#i wish i was confident enough to give him the injection he needs without fucking it up

[depresseddepot]

to avoid thinking about my cat's surgery I've been painting and I am so fucking bad at mixing colors lmao

#im bad at matching colors too #like usually im painting from some random picture i find online but this time im really trying to focus on what im doing #(to avoid thinking about the surgery) #and i am so so bad at color matching lmao #i even used a color match site so i could see what the color of an area REALLY is but even when i do that my colors are wrong #theyre like...the right tone but theyre all too dark #and lightening them with white makes the tone go off #is this color theory? /gen lol I've heard people say you need to learn color theory but i never knew what it was #anyway. for my next trick i will think obsessively about my wip. (to avoid thinking about the surgery) #okay i cant avoid it any longer. i am so fucking glad his surgery is tomorroe #hes having knee surgery and his knee has started CLICKING while he walks #im so nervous i feel like i could go into cardiac arrest but frankly i wish it had been yesterday or the day before #i wish we had taken him to the vet last thursday. i wish i had trusted my gut sooner instead of letting my mom talk me out of it #i wish i hadn't let him walk around with a torn ligament for over a fucking week #i wish we had the vet do xrays on his knees when he was a kitten so we could have prevented all of this #i wish i had a shorter bedframe so he didn't have to jump so high. i wish i could sleep on the floor so i could sleep with him in his cage #i wish i had desensitized him to car rides and vet visits when he was a kitten #i wish we knew who abused him and threw him onto the highway so i could kill them #i wish we had put him on anxiety medication earlier #i wish i was a trained veterinarian so i could do my own exams on him instead of taking him to a place he's terrified of #i wish i was confident enough to give him the injection he needs without fucking it up #god i fucking hope everything goes okay #pretending to laugh about how he'll have a nakey chicken leg isn't even working anymore #wip save me. save me wip

[blueluneacy]

Justifications

i was sad so i wrote this. its the cioccolata/reader n/sfw that i planned for Wrong with the Reaper that never ended up happening

warnings: not sfw, non con, knife (scalpel?) play, aphrodisiacs, drugged sex, implied kidnapping, bondage

Also on AO3

“And what is it now that you’re whining about?” Cioccolata asked, rolling his eyes as you still squirmed on the table, trying to take deep breaths to calm yourself down. You should be feeling better according to what he injected in you, and by his reaction, it seemed like he too didn’t understand your reaction. Maybe you had an allergy you didn’t know about? Who knew, you weren’t exactly given hospital grade painkillers often. 

All you knew is that your body, rather than calming down, felt like it was getting hotter, your heart rate speeding up and your pupils dilating. You squirmed in your restraints, trying to keep yourself calm enough to not disrupt your fresh stitches. He just wanted to put you to sleep so he could easily move you back to your fresh chains in the corner of the room, now fortified with brand new steel, but you were instead throwing a fit. 

“God, will you calm down? I swear, you need to stop fighting what I put into your system.” Cioccolata pointed out, turning around to finally look at you again, only to pause and raise an eyebrow. As he saw your state, the way you were shaking and your breathing quickened, he actually stepped back over to you, looking you over as he reached up and felt your cheek. 

“Hmm… This isn’t even some of the possible side effects, so why are you…” He looked over to his table grabbing one his syringes, only to…

“Well then. It seems I made a bit of a mistake. What a pain…” Cioccolata chuckled. It didn’t seem like he was bothered at all.

“What…. What the hell did you do to me?” You asked, gritting your teeth in an attempt to try and make yourself seem stronger than you were, but your voice ended up just coming out as whiny and breathy. Cioccolata just chuckled, placing it back down.

“Well, I have this medicine here-” He held up the empty syringe to you. “In case I wanted to have a different type of fun or you became a little underwhelming. What I meant was to use my other vial, which had something to knock you out. What a shame! I can’t just give you the other one for a few hours, there’s a terrible reaction. I suppose you’ll just have to suffer like that.” He chuckled a bit. You gasped, blinking a bit as you tried to take deep breaths. 

“W-Wait, you’re just going to leave me like this? Come on, I… You’re the one that fucked up, and now I just have to suffer more? Fuck you!” You yelled out, only for Cioccolata to pause for a moment, leaning over and letting a gloved hand run from your stomach all the way up to your neck. You gasped, realizing just how sensitive your skin had become, and your eyes widened.

“You really are such a fickle thing. First, you don’t want me to touch you, and then you want me to help you? You need to learn to make up your mind.” He told you, humming a bit as he waved Secco over. You felt your lip quiver a bit and you squeezed your eyes shut.

“I hate you so much. I really do.” You told the both of them, wanting nothing more than to lay down on that mattress and cry until this was all over. But of course, now that you had accidentally drawn the two of them to you, they weren’t going to let you get out of this easily.

“Now don’t be like that, dear.” You hated the tone of Cioccolata’s voice, you really did, swallowing as he leaned into your neck, letting his lips barely graze over it. “If you so desperately want me to help you, I will.” You bit your lip, trying incessantly to ignore it, to try and get yourself together against whatever drug was coursing through your veins. But, you couldn’t help but let out a gasp as Cioccolata grabbed your hip, your eyes shooting open at his face as you felt him adjusting the table you were strapped down to. You swallowed and looked at him as he tilted the thing so that you were almost upright, making it much easier for him to do as he pleased. 

“Hmmm… Now, what is it that you wanted again?” He purred into your ear, reaching down to let a hand to brush against you through your underwear. You immediately bucked up without even realizing it. You gasped, wishing your hands were free so you could cover your face, to hide from what he was doing to you. It wasn’t your fault, after all, it was the fault of the stupid drug that he had injected you with, right? Right, it couldn’t be your fault.

“Shut up. It doesn’t matter what I say, you’ll do whatever you want to anyway.” You mumbled in reply, sounding a lot less confident than you usually would in a situation like this. What were you even supposed to do? There was no way you could wriggle out of your restraints, no way to do anything. 

“Hmm, and yet you still have that mouth on you. You know, maybe I should just sew those lips of yours shut. But then,” He let out a purr as he let his teeth bite into your neck, leaving you to let out a moan. You perhaps expected a scream, or maybe a cry, but that was completely out of left field. But didn’t want that to feel good, and yet it did. There was no way around how you felt, nothing but despair in it all. “How would I be able to hear something like that?”

“Shut up. God, just shut up.” You told him, panting a bit as you felt Cioccolata’s god awful hands start to run over you, trying to keep a hold of yourself the best you could. But it was so hard, with whatever was making you so needy to the point where you were almost admitting to yourself that it felt good. Key word, almost.

“And there it is again. Do you ever just try to enjoy yourself?” He hissed. You just scoffed in return, your eyes shooting up as you felt cold metal against your skin, looking down to see a scalpel just barely grazing your stomach. You swallowed and he moved it down slowly, creating a small red line. You grit your teeth, feeling the delayed sting from such a sharp instrument being used on you, until he finally got to the hem of your underwear, pausing for a moment, before easily cutting it away. You actually sighed in relief when you realized he hadn’t cut you in that motion. Heaven knows what would happen if you were cut down there.

“Ah, well, you seem to be excited, in the very least. What? Are you a masochist now too?” He asked you teasingly, looking over at Secco. You shuddered as you realized the camera was still on, the sounds of Secco panting soft in your ear but probably terribly loud in the camera.

“You forced a drug in me, and couldn’t even bother to make sure it was the right one. This is all your fault.” You told him, but Cioccolata just chuckled, using the time to start working bruises onto your neck, leaving terrible lipstick stains on you that you were sure would be a while until you could wash off. You felt your eyes widen as he let a finger run along your entrance. You gasped as squirmed for a moment, but it was a futile effort, leaving you just to whine as he pushed a finger inside of you. God, why did that feel good? You let your eyes shut as you hung your head, trying to ignore it, but it was no use. Cioccolata, for better or worse, was intuitive, and while he was slow at first, once he had realized what made your tick, he was all over it. 

“I can hear your cute little moans, dear. Come on, you don’t have to hide from me. You already know I’m going to be able to hear and see everything anyway.” He told you, watching closely as he added another finger inside of you. You gasped in return, Cioccolata just laughing at you. You were so silly, attempting to run away into your little world, to find out your own version of the truth instead of seeing what was right in front of you. Cioccolata sighed a bit, pulling his fingers from you as he began to fiddle with his belt. You blinked, pausing before realizing what he was doing, swallowing as you stared right at his cock. Well, he was tall, but that just wasn’t fair! There are plenty of nice men out there, and here Cioccolata was, hung like a fucking horse. 

“I… I am going to have to respectfully decline that.” You said. Secco and Cioccolata looked at each other, before the two of them laughing at you, Cioccolata moving to grab your hips and begin to line up with your entrance.

“You should already know you don’t have a choice in this.” He told you. You swallowed and laughed nervously, desperately looking around for something, anything, but nothing was there to grab onto, a rope to lift you out of here.

“Well, worth a shot, right? Don’t know until you try.” You tried not to sound as nervous as you were. It did not work. 

And god, when Cioccolata pushed in, all you could do was scream. Your screams were probably music to his ears, but you couldn’t help it. It stung so badly, you could nearly see blotting at the edge of your vision. And Cioccolata only held for a moment, a single moment for you to take a breath, before his nails dug into your hips, and he moved with wild abandon. You really did just feel like a piece of meat, right there and ready for this monster to do whatever he wanted to. But god, you hated how good it felt too, the way Cioccolata seemed to hit parts of you that you didn’t even know were there, making you let you a practically endless stream of moans and gasps. 

“God, what a cute little pet I seem to have gotten. You like this, don’t you? You love what I do to you, you little whore.” You shuddered at the way he growled, the way it only made your body clench down onto him even tighter. You were practically losing your mind in the feeling, but you did your best to shake your head. 

“You still have the capacity to lie? I’m impressed, to say the least. I’ll just have to fuck such stupid thoughts out of your head. Wouldn’t it be nice, to just be mindless?” He asked you, leaning in to mouth at your shoulder, unable to control his own impulses. The way he curled over you reminded you of some sort of lumbering monster, all teeth and claws, biting into you and drawing blood. You let out a whine, and you wished your hands were free so you could grab onto something, to try and get a grip on anything that was happening. A small portion of you even wanted to grab onto Cioccolata, to grip the back of his coat until it tore apart, until you felt something make sense with you. 

“C-Cioccolata, please, God, it’s too much!” You found some capacity to speak, but it really was nothing but babbling, wasn’t it? Cioccolata practically purred in delight at the way you were calling out his name, absolutely losing control of your tongue. “I can’t, please, slow down!”

“Aw, but doesn’t it feel so good? I can feel you squeezing down around me. Your body certainly knows what it wants.” He chuckled, before forcing his lips against yours. You gasped, but it only allowed Cioccolata to force his tongue into your mouth, forcing you into submission against him. You didn’t dare bite, for fear of what he might do to you in a state like this. When he finally pulled away, you were gasping, fruitlessly attempting to get a grip on yourself as you moaned.

“P-Please, Cioccolata, can’t take it! God, please!” You cried out.

“I wonder if you really think any God can hear you here.” He hummed, before reaching one of his hands up and tangling a hand through your hair, forcing you to meet his eyes. “Are you close? Does my pretty little bitch want to cum?” His voice was so low you thought you might be fading away. And against your better judgement, you just nodded pathetically. You couldn’t help it. Your body was just so, so sensitive, to the point where the slightest movement made it feel like you were going to burst. Cioccolata just smirked, pushing into you faster, god you didn’t even think that he could go faster, barking out his order.

“Then cum. Clamp down on me and make you cum right inside of you.” He told you. You gasped, trying to shake your head, to try and refuse him, but Cioccolata just gripped your hair tighter, starting to pull. “Don’t make me tell you again, pet.” His voice was so dangerous, to the point where all you could do was whimper and do your best to nod.

And of course, after a few more strokes, you let out a loud cry, your eyes rolling back as you had probably one of the most intense orgasms of your life. Maybe it was the drug, or the fear, or a mixture, but you couldn’t help but consulve as you clamped down on Cioccolata, feeling something that just felt boiling hot fill up inside of you. Something you would have to deal with later.

You gasped, the two of you riding out the feeling with each other, before you just hung your head the moment he let go. It wasn’t even the shame of all, but rather the overwhelming feeling of exhaustion you felt. You let your eyes flutter shut, shuddering as you felt some of Cioccolata’s spent drip out from inside of you and onto your thigh. Cioccolata tutted, picking your head up by the chin, but you just leaned in it. 

“You really have no stamina, do you?” He sighed, leaving you there for a moment to go to the sink, presumably to clean himself up, before coming back to you and starting to pull you down. If any time was the time to fight, it was now. No one would expect it, but well, there was a reason why. The minute your feet touched the ground, you were wobbling like a newborn deer, holding onto Cioccolata and leaning your head against him. He just sighed, scooping you up fully in his arms, leaving you to sigh in a strange relief. 

“But, at least you’re cute afterwards.” He teased a bit. You didn’t have the energy to argue, instead letting your eyes flutter shut, exhaustion overcoming you as you fell asleep in his arms. 

You were just too tired to try and justify this with yourself.

#cioccolata x reader #cioccolata/reader #jjba imagines #jjba x reader #jjba/reader #NOT SFW #non con

[stormcrawler75]

if it hasn't been done yet (re the bad things happenbingo) could I ask for either amputation or damaged wing(s) with Remus please? I love what you've done with the prompts so far

Warnings: Amputation, hospitals, diseases, talk of surgery.

Characters: Remus, Patton, mentions of Roman, Logan, Virgil, and Janus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hospitals smelt like absolute, sterilized shit.

Remus couldn’t fucking stand hospitals. Just the smell alone made Remus want to stay far away from hospitals for his entire life. Like, Remus got it. The people who worked there saved lives and the world would probably die without them. But Remus really hated hospitals. Maybe the problem was that they didn’t get enough money? Or that usually only shitty things happened at hospitals? Or maybe because of how many times Remus had been in one recently and he had only gotten shitty fucking news?

Whatever. No matter the reason, hospitals were still at the top of Remus’ shit list at the moment.

Plus, the gowns were itchy. Though, that might just be Remus’ opinion. He currently had one tied around in and was lying in a bed, waiting impatiently for the stupid kiddie clock - which was actually pretty cool because it was shaped like an octopus - hung on the opposite wall to hit three o’clock. Remus was so ready for this to be over with so he could go back home. Roman had promised to make whatever he wanted for dinner when Remus came back and Remus was so craving pancakes with cheese sauce.

Remus sighed and glanced over at his Dad, who was sitting next to him and reading a battered old Highlights magazine. “How much longer,” he whined, giving Patton his best pout. “We’ve been waiting here forever!”

“We’ve been waiting here for two hours, Sweetie,” Patton said gently, putting the magazine down on his knee. He glanced at the clock hanging opposite from them. “Well, it looks like you only got about twenty more minutes to go, Hon. Are you nervous?”

The question had been asked so many times by so many people lately that Remus could barely manage a scoff. “Me? Nervous? Nah, not at all! Hey, it’ll be pretty cool, if you think about it!” He forced a gasp and grabbed Patton’s wrist. “Do you think they’ll film it? Could I watch it later!?”

Patton laughed and shook his head fondly. “I don’t think so, Kiddo. But I’ll ask your doctor, okay? But if we do get it then no showing your siblings, okay? Especially don’t let Virgil catch you watching it, he would have nightmares for weeks. He’s already so worried about today.”

Remus’ jaw clenched at the memory of his two-year-old brother sobbing just a few hours ago and trying to cling to Remus’ hand. Virgil hated hospitals just as much as Remus and, unlike Remus, he didn’t have the maturity and wisdom that Remus had to understand why he hated them or remember just how long he had spent there as a baby. “He doesn’t have any reason to worry,” Remus spat, hating the pit of fear that was growing in his gut. “The doctors said that this is the best option for me and even if I’ll have to do therapy and stuff, I should be just fine.”

“Oh, Honey, he’s only a toddler, he doesn’t understand what’s happening,” Patton said gently, taking Remus’ hand and squeezing it. “All he understands is that his big brother is in pain and is going away to a scary place and is going to come back without one of his legs. He’s much too young to know what osteomyelitis is.”

“I’m fourteen and I don’t even fully understand what this stupid disease is,” Remus muttered, crossing his arms. So many people had tried explaining it to him and all Remus fully understood was that some stupid fungi had injected his right leg bone and they had caught it so late that amputation was the only option. “But I know that he shouldn’t be worried. It’ll be fine and he didn’t need to be crying so much. Logan and Roman weren’t crying.”

And, no, Remus wasn’t disappointed that Logan and Roman - old enough to understand what was happening - didn’t cry like Virgil had or looked worried. Not that there was any reason to be worried but it would’ve been nice for them to pretend to be worried!

Patton squeezed his hand again, looking down at him sympathetically. “Trust me, kiddo, they were crying plenty last night. Logan’s been looking up the operation ever since he learnt what you have and Roman is so scared about his twin. They were trying to be strong for you, that’s-”

“But there’s no reason to be worried,” Remus cried, throwing out his arms in frustration. “There isn’t, I’m going to be fine and there’s no reason for anyone to worry!” His eyes were filling with sudden tears and his jaw trembled with the force of keeping them back. “I-I’m gonna come home and annoy everyone a-and t-they don’t need to worry ‘bout me cause I am gonna be f-fine!” He sobbed and pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes, images of all the things that could go wrong flashing through his mind.

Arms wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him forward until he was leaning against his dad’s chest. “Shhh, shhhh, you’re okay, you’re going to be okay,” Patton cooed, rubbing a hand up and down Remus’ back. “You’re gonna be fine, kiddo.”

“They’re gonna take my leg,” Remus sobbed, gripping Patton’s shirt so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. “D-don’t let them take my leg, don’t let them, Papa!”

“Oh, Kiddo,” Patton sighed, resting his cheek on the top of Remus’ head and holding him close. “Sweetheart, I wish I could stop them from taking your leg. If I could, I’d take this infection and put it in my own leg so you wouldn’t have to lose yours. But I can’t, Sweetie, and I’m so sorry. And I know this is very scary but I’ll be right outside the room the entire time. And I’m going to buy you the best prosthetic that money can buy, I promise.”

Remus sniffled and he rubbed at his eyes, looking up at Patton sadly. “O-one with some design?”

Patton gave him a wobbly smile and nodded, kissing Remus’ forehead. “I’ll buy you two. A plain one and one with any design that you want on it. We’ll do it together, okay baby?”

“Okay,” Remus sniffled, leaning back against Patton and closing his eyes. “...How long now?”

“...Two minutes.”

Remus’ breath hitched and he fought back the urge to vomit. It’d be hilarious but then they’d have to wait even longer for this surgery to take place. “I’m scared,” he admitted softly. “I’m so scared, Papa.”

“I’ll be right outside the surgery room and I’ll be right there when you wake up,” Patton promised softly, sounding like he was holding back tears. It made Remus want to dig a hole in the ground and cry. He was making his Papa cry. “And as soon as the Doctors say you’re ready, we’ll go home and see your brothers and Uncle Janus, okay?”

Remus sniffled and nodded, wiping away the tears trailing down his cheeks.”Okay,” he whispered. He let out a shaky breath and forced a smile. “It’ll be okay.”

“Remus?” The two of them turned to see a Doctor and a Nurse waiting for them. “We’re ready for you.”

Remus glanced at Patton nervously and got a confident smile in return. “You’ll be okay,” Patton said, looking so sure that he might as well had been saying that the sky was blue. “I’ll be right next to you when you wake up, okay?”

“Okay,” Remus said softly, turning to the Doctor and Nurse. “I’m ready.”

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#Storm writes #tw Amputation #tw hospitals #tw diseases #tw talk of surgery #Remus Sanders #Patton Sanders #Roman Sanders #Logan Sanders #Virgil Sanders #Janus Sanders #Bad Things Happen Bingo #Anonymous

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 141

141

Keith was tucked up in bed, saline IV drip in his arm. Lance had been jerking them off when Keith threw up across him. Orgasm, puke, panicked Keith. Moment ruined. Getting Keith up, showered, the bedding stripped and changed, his boyfriend was finally asleep. So much for coming back with a level head... Matt wasn’t Keith sitting ever again. Still, he was kind of cute when he was sleeping and sprouting nonsense. It wasn’t even funny nonsense. Their twins had been upgraded to cupcakes... so that was kind of funny, but Keith obviously not his limits both alcohol wise and mentally.

Heading into the living room, Rieva was back. He really wished they use the front door rather than balcony hoping

“How’s yours?”

“Had to put an IV line. Yours?”

“Tequila hit and he’d acquainting himself with the toilet”

“Did Matt say much?”

“Only that Keith was pretty much babbling by the third shot and obliterated by the 5th shot...”

“Surprised he made it that long... Am I... I did this, didn’t I?”

“Matt did. He wasn’t supposed to take Keith drinking while Keith was upset”

“Keith was upset because of me”

They’d got a lot done with Keith and Matt gone. He’d drafted his will, two copies, one in case Keith didn’t come back, which was now shredded, the other Rieva acted as his witness for. He didn’t have much, but if something happened he wanted Keith and the twins to be provided for. Everything but the coffee machine left to his boyfriend, which went to Pidge as a joke. Keith would decide how to split his assets and if there was something in particular their two best friends wanted Lance was confident Keith would let them take it. Shiro and Curtis to raise their twins if something happened. He hadn’t told Keith, because Keith didn’t want to think about things going wrong. He had a copy of his mother’s will, she’d tried to leave him things but he knew his siblings would contest it. The one thing he knew Luis would want would be Mami’s wedding and engagement ring set, to pass on. He’d slipped it off her finger before they flew back to America, then slid it back on at the service. Even if Luis wanted it, it was where it belonged. Where their Papi had slid it into place all those decades ago.

“Keith was upset because you’ve barely had time to talk about anything properly. Matt did mention you may wish to avoid the hotel lounge. Keith got a bit vocal about your sex life”

Lance groaned. Drunk Keith was a slut. Matt should have known better

“He’s lucky he doesn’t have alcohol poisoning... He’s also lucky Coran sent me back with extra medical supplies. Grab an IV bag if Matt needs one”

Rieva shrugged a shoulder

“He can suffer. I expected more maturity”

“I don’t know... Pidge turns to alcohol to solve all her problems”

“Yes, well. I only popped over to see how you were handling Keith. I can smell vomit in the air”

“Puked all over me. Gotta admit, as gross as it was, it was nice to not be the one throwing up all the time”

Not that Lance wanted to see Keith throwing up. He was pissed at Matt for letting Keith get into this state. Rieva was lucky he could see her and only smell Matt. His ego wanted to punch their friend in the face. Rieva screwed her nose up at his words

“At least mine made it to the bathroom. My plans for a swim are cancelled. Shall I pick you up something for dinner?”

“Yeah. That’d actually be great. Keith’s going to need food to soak up all the alcohol in his system. He still smells like a walking tequila bottle”

“He’ll be feeling it tomorrow. Alright, I’ll pop back soon. You should try rest too. You’re looking a little washed out”

“Try washing Keith when he’s crying, apologising, and groping me all at the same time”

“Nope. That’s a hard pass. I really am sorry for Matt’s actions”

“It’s fine. I totally owe you for today, so I’ll call it even”

“On the plus side, Coran’s fitting the drinks bill...”

He didn’t see that as a plus side. He’d have to pay something towards the room tab before they checked out. The rooms were something like $350 a night and he’d already been there twoish months... or was it three? He didn’t quite know where Keith got three months from. Maybe drunk Keith would tell him?

“... anyway, I’ll see you soon!”

Rieva was back out the window and across the next balcony before Lance could sigh. They were going to get busted for it. All it’d take was someone looking up and opening their big mouths over it. Just another reason why supernaturals shouldn’t be mixing with humans.

Heading back to Keith, his boyfriend was still in the same position Lance had left him in. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he placed his hand on Keith’s hair, letting the soft locks flop over his fingers. He didn’t know what Keith was thinking. Him taking the bite? What kind of crap was that? Keith would probably die before turning. If he turned, he’d have none of the benefits that came with turning young. He was trying to sign up for a life he knew wasn’t as glamorous as Hollywood made believe. He wasn’t going to take Keith’s warmth from him. He wasn’t going to curse him to their weird life. He loved his breathing happy human boyfriend. The feel of his strong heartbeat. The softness of Keith’s warmth as if cocooned around him. His scent. His smile. His ability to function without coffee. Humans were fragile, but he wouldn’t let Keith take the bite. One lifetime with Human Keith was as good as a million with vampire Keith who risked insanity and the troubles of ego. The constant risk of blood borne infection. Their egos might not even get along. Keith’s might outright reject the parts of him he’d liked as a human, and Lance might never recover from the guilt he knew would come if he turned him.

Stroking Keith’s hair, he wished they’d stay like this. Together. He shouldn’t have kept things from Keith, but Keith severely miscalculated how low Lance was. He’d barely started recovering when Mami passed. Yeah, he knew Keith hadn’t had a fun time, but... yeah. He’d fucked things up. The pat on the head and the reassurance he craved came from Rieva. She’d gone to get herself a glass of water from the kitchenette, seeing all the injections and stuff Coran had him taking on top of fresh blood, that he now definitely assumed had been cut off thanks to Keith coming, though feeding from Keith was dangerous. A full feed would leave him weak, his body not able to keep up with his desires to feed Lance as much as he needed. He supposed vampires would simply call in pets to entertain other breeders, that wasn’t what he wanted at all. Love was worth more than blood. Could a human not love a vampire? Or was Keith struggling with the idea of mortality?

Then there was what he’d said. Marriage. Um. Lance wasn’t in a rush. He didn’t feel he had to be married to be with Keith. It went against his romantic heart, but he also didn’t want an engagement ring out of duty. Things like marriage should wait. They hadn’t been together a year, rushing to sign up for the rest of their lives without ironing out the teething problems asked for trouble. Werewolves were different with their concept of marriage. Vampires different again. Vampires generally didn’t marry humans. Humans were generally only ever pets. Keith was not his pet. Did Keith not see them as partners? Did he really see Lance as out of reach permanently if he didn’t take the bite? He hated the thought. The thought he’d drifted so far away from being human in his boyfriend’s eyes. Why couldn’t what they’d had and would have be enough?

*

Falling asleep against Keith, Rieva woke him gently. Matt hanging back, looking like shit

“I’ve brought dinner up if you’d like to join us”

It was food time already? His nap schedule ruined, and his body making it’s dislike known. He’d barely had anything to drink either. One day back with Keith and he acting like a kid

“Yeah... smells good”

“Chicken and rice. Extra for Keith”

“Thanks. I’ll give you the money...”

“We already decided we’re even. I know I told you to nap, yet, I can’t say you seem too rested”

“I got too caught up in taking care of him that I might have forgotten to eat”

Rieva took him by the arm, pulling Lance off Keith who whined in his sleep, patting around for him. Leaning back, Lance kissed Keith’s cheek, his boyfriend’s breath hideous, but trying to brush Keith’s teeth didn’t exactly work when his boyfriend wanted to suck on the toothbrush

“Babe, you awake?”

“Ngggh...”

Nope. He needed sleep. The more sleep the better. He was going to be hung over as fuck

“You just sleep. I’ll be back soon”

“Unmg”

“I know. You regret your life choices. It’s okay, just sleep it off”

“Mhndssf”

“I love you, too”

The three of them left Keith sleeping, Matt throwing himself down on the sofa with such force Lance was worried it was about to break

“I’m amazed you speak drunken Keith. He stopped making sense to me”

Lance shook his head

“Thanks for that. I don’t, and I don’t appreciate you getting him drunk”

“Trust me, dude. No more tequila for him. no mas tequila”

Matt’s Spanish was like nails on a chalk board, making him cringe. He’d even thrown in a very bad Spanish accent trying to sell the three words

“Did he try hitting on you? He’s a slut when he’s drunk”

“No. That would have been easier to deal with. It was all “I love Lance!”. “Lance likes it when I hold hips down and fuck him!”. “Lance is perfection!”. “Lance is life!”. I want my cupcakes!””

Lance groaned. He’d never be able to face any of the hotel staff again

“You shouldn’t have taken him drinking...”

“I know! He just seemed like he needed to let loose”

There was any number of things Matt could have taken Keith off and done...

“Then take him for Karaoke. Give him like two shots and he’ll get up there... Do you have any idea what he’s been saying?”

“That he’s serious about being with you?”

“That the wants to be bitten”

“Ah. He’ll get over that”

Matt waved it off dismissively

“That doesn’t seem like something he’ll just get over, Matt”

Not when Keith had this idea of forever being unnaturally long

“He had something like 8 shots. He won’t remember”

“That’s beside the point because I remember. Couldn’t you have picked something else to talk about?”

“Trust me, I tried”

Rieva interrupted the pair of them

“Aaaaaanyway, Lance, you need to eat. One full blood bag and your food”

“I will”

“You’ll do it now or you’ll forget”

“I don’t forget. It’d be so much easier if I did”

“I don’t care for your excuses, eat, now”

He wasn’t trying to make excuses. He’d come out to eat with his... pack. He was just trying to learn about what Keith had said while drunk. Not putting off eating. This was why he had a hard time accepting the help of his friends because, despite wanting the best for him, he now felt slightly smothered.

Thanks to the feeling of being smothered, Lance was distant through dinner. Before he knew what happened he found his plate emptied. Matt and Rieva also having finished eating, with Matt looking too well after the greasy chicken

“If you’re going to puke, please try to make it to the bathroom”

The scent of Keith’s vomit was bad enough. He didn’t need Matt puking, he was liable to start vomiting at any moment as it was. The chicken looked good, tasted good, but the amount of oil coupled with the scent was definitely not good.

Matt nodded, chicken bone still his mouth

“I think I’m going to eat and run before you start sucking down that blood”

“Matthew!”

Matt shrugged

“He said to go if I’m feeling sick, I’m feeling sick, take care of meeee”

Eh. Close enough. He had Keith to nurse as it was

“I’m sorry, Lance. Matt’s banned from drinking until we get home”

Good luck with that one. Matt not drinking was like Keith not having coffee. If he wanted to drink, he would. That was just how Matt was

“What? Babe. Nooooo”

“You should have thought about that before you ruined our plans. You reap what you sow”

“Lance, please tell me we’re on the first plane out of here tomorrow”

He got it. He was interrupting their lives. Yep. He knew it. Rieva and Matt should be back in America. He’d lasted long enough on his own. He could manage

“You guys can go if you really want to, but I want to spend some more time here”

Rieva elbowed Matt

“Lance, we’re not leaving until you are ready”

Open wound. Pour in salt. Bam. Same feeling as what he felt at Rieva mothering him

“I’ll think about it some more. Thanks for the help earlier. It felt good to get things organised”

“You’re very welcome. Don’t stay up too late”

That meant no walk along the beach alone at night. Too bad for Rieva that he was going to. Lance supposed it was a bit weird, but to him it was like a treat for making it through the day. He could walk the beach, swim if he felt like it, breathe in the salt air and just let go

“Alright. Off you both go. I’ll take care of the clean up”

He’d said alright. Not that he’d promised to. It’d been far too long since he’d been swimming and he’d always loved the water. Going home meant returning to dry inland heat and not a pool in sight. Why couldn’t people just trust him to make the choices that made him happy and his head less busy? No one bothered him. He bothered no one. He always dressed warmly enough... He’d wake Keith up and let him know before he went. No one could be mad at him for that. This was why he’d been keeping so much to himself. Because he knew his mental health was being a little shit and his ego a flaring arsehole. He’d asked for time, not for love to be shoved down his throat at the first possible instance until it choked him.

#once bitten twice stupid #oncebittentwicestupid #ashratherose

[ialwayscomewhenyoucall]

Unshackled

winterhawk

whole fic rated E, this chapter rated T

very loosely based on the novel Sunshine by Robin Mckinley

major tags (for the whole fic): enemies to friends to lovers, there was only one bed, slow burn, lots and lots of pining

chapter 1 word count: 3079

Chapter One

Clint swims to consciousness slowly, and not without some pain. His face is pressed against a cold tile floor. A cold, dirty tile floor, he amends; he can feel grit against his cheek. Before he even opens his eyes he shifts his head slightly to the side and immediately makes a mental note to avoid doing that in the future. When did something hit him in the back of the head? It feels like it was a shovel, or maybe a tank. He cracks one eye and reevaluates. Three tanks, at least. Nothing less could have caused this much dizziness and nausea. Not to mention the stabbing pain.

Okay, the pain is bad, and the sickening feeling along with it is maybe worse. But he needs to prioritize, and there are more important things. To start, where is he? Who brought him here? And finally–a very distant third–why? That last one is for future Clint to deal with. Future Clint isn’t dealing with a possible concussion and certain memory loss.

He does a quick check of the rest of his body, tightening and relaxing muscles. It doesn’t feel like anything but his head is hurt too badly, although there’s an ache in his side that feels like it might be a bruised rib or two. He won’t be able to tell until he’s up and moving around, which isn’t going to be easy. Not with his head making him see stars every time he tries to move.

At least he can hear himself breathing. That means they left him his aids. Whoever “they” are.

He doesn’t hear anything else, though. Is he in a soundproof space? Or maybe he’s just truly alone. The fact that he hears no ambient sounds is telling. He’s either deep within a building, far underground, or distant enough from the city that he can’t hear any traffic noises.

Okay, he’s got to quit stalling. Maybe just rolling onto his side? He can’t make out much of his immediate surroundings laying here on his stomach, and he really needs to do something. Even figuring out where he is–or even just figuring out how to move–would give him back some control of his situation. (He knows this isn’t really true. This is exactly the kind of situation where he doesn’t have control. But a few baby steps can’t hurt.)

The best way is to just do it, right? He slides his right arm along the floor until he can flip his hand; when his palm is against the floor he pushes–slowly, slowly–with the goal of shifting his weight onto his left side. He’s got to pull up his knees a little to keep steady, but when he does there’s a clanking of metal and some resistance from his right foot.

His brain puts together the sound and the feeling at once, and the conclusion thrusts him closer to panic. Without thinking he jerks his foot against the shackle, even knowing it won’t work, and scrambles to his hands and knees.

“Fuck!” he shouts. Or, he means to shout; his voice is barely a whisper. Had he been screaming? Or has his voice just been unused for too long? But these thoughts are just flickers in the background of the agony in his head.

“Moving’s a bad idea, I think.”

He’s so startled he scuttles backwards until his back is against the wall. He’s trying to see but the room is so dark; the other man is in shadows, and his vision is a bit blurry around the edges from whatever had been done to him. Had he been drugged or just knocked out? And then the pain of moving catches up to him, and it’s worse than all the rest combined. The nausea is so bad he turns to the side and wretches, but nothing comes up. Maybe he’s been here long enough that there’s nothing in his stomach to lose.

“I told you you shouldn’t be moving,” says the voice, this time with a hint of amusement in the tone. “Looks like you took a nasty hit to the head. You’ve got great vision, Hawkeye, but it doesn’t help if there’s no one to watch your back.”

There’s a hint of–is it sarcasm?–when he says “Hawkeye,” and the voice seems oddly familiar. Clint squints, trying to make out the face of the man across from him, but there are still too many shadows.

“Be thankful for the darkness. I know you wish you could see better, but trust me: bright lights and a concussion are not a good combination.”

Clint wishes he felt confident enough of his balance to snort. Instead he lets his voice drip with some sarcasm of his own. “You’re telling me HYDRA’s into kindness now? Right. First we’ll give him a concussion, then we’ll make him feel all cozy.” Because of course it had been HYDRA. This whole thing just screams HYDRA attack.

Even if he can’t remember any of it.

The other man actually does snort.. “Not HYDRA. Just me. I’m the one who asked them to leave the light off. I know what a concussion feels like.”

Clint stops himself just before he rolls his eyes–it would probably hurt. “So now I’m supposed to believe you’re my friend, that you’re here to take care of me, so I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear? Do you really think that kind of lame-brain scheme is going to work?”

There’s a soft sigh, and then, “Believe what you want.” Then the man shifts, and his face falls out of the shadows and into the barely there light for the first time. In the span of a heartbeat Clint realizes two things.

The first comes as a bit of a shock, and he wonders if maybe he’s hallucinating due to his blow to the head. He knows why the man’s voice sounds so familiar. He knows who it is, and his blood runs cold.

He does not want to be shut in a room with this man.

The second is smaller but maybe just as jarring: the other man is shackled to the wall, too. He’s got shackles on his right arm and left ankle. It doesn’t make any sense.

And before his brain can talk him out of it, his mouth goes ahead and blurts out, “You’re a prisoner too?”

“Yes,” says the Winter Soldier, voice even, almost resigned.

“Fuck,” breathes Clint, because that seems like the only thing to say. Then he adds, “Those must be some hefty shackles.”

The Soldier grins. It is not a nice grin. It is a grin that says, I could rip your arms off, and it would be entirely fun for me. “They went through quite a few tries before they found something that worked.”

Clint swallows, or tries to. His mouth has suddenly gone dry. In a small room with the Winter Soldier is not a good place for him to be. How many Avengers has he tried to kill now? That he hasn’t succeeded–yet, a traitorous part of his brain supplies–is beside the point. In all those attempts the Soldier had been facing multiple Avengers, and most of them have superpowers. Right now it’s just the Soldier against Clint Barton. A concussed Clint Barton. A concussed Clint Barton with no bow. No weapons of any kind, actually. Never mind that they’re shackled to opposite walls–the chains seem long enough that they could meet in the middle. And if the Soldier got ahold of him with that silver arm…

Clint shivers, and the shiver turns into a shudder, and soon he is shaking. Distantly he knows it’s something to do with his injury and that he isn’t quaking in fear, but he wonders if maybe there is some fear involved.

“Barton! Fuck, Barton, just breathe, okay? Try to take deep, even breaths.” The voice comes from far away, echoing like someone calling down a well. Funny, he hadn’t thought there could be anything like a well in this place.

Just before Clint falls into unconsciousness he feels metal against his face, cupping his cheek, and he takes a moment to think that the Soldier’s metal hand is a lot warmer than he’d expected.

Then there is only blackness.

*

Clint floats back to consciousness this time, a leaf caught in the current of a slow-moving stream. The first thing he’s aware of, once he manages to open his eyes, is that he can actually see. The light is dim, just a single lit panel next to what he can now see is a door, but it’s better than the almost complete darkness he’d been in before.

The second thing he’s aware of is that the light doesn’t hurt his eyes. He moves his head experimentally and it’s not the agony he’s expecting. There’s a dull ache in his neck and he can feel a slight bump on the back of his head when he checks with his fingers, but he doesn’t feel any nausea.

“Wondered if you were gonna sleep forever.”

Clint jumps, which, okay, it still doesn’t feel good to hit his head on the floor, but at least he’s not throwing up. He tries to sit up and hey, that actually works out. He looks warily at the Winter Soldier. “Thought maybe I’d hallucinated you.”

“I don’t think you’re quite that lucky. Looks like you can move though, so that’s an improvement.”

“How long was I out?”

“Just over six hours,” the Soldier says, and Clint wonders if whatever knockoff supersoldier serum HYDRA gave him also put a clock in his head. But then the words catch up to him and he sputters with disbelief.

“Six hours? That’s not possible. I feel...well, not fine, but like I’ve been healing for a week. Maybe two. There’s no way I was only out for six hours.”

The Soldier shrugs. “Someone came in after you passed out.” An evasive look flashes across his features, but it’s gone in a fraction of a second. “Gave you an injection of some kind. Looks like it did the trick.”

Clint actually laughs. “I’m no doctor, but I’ve had my share of concussions. You can’t just reverse a head injury like that. It’s...look. The only thing that can take care of a bruised brain is time.”

Waving his metal hand, the Soldier looks at it with a smirk and then back at Clint.

He slumps, momentarily defeated. “Point taken.” Then crosses his arms, unconsciously hugging himself. The thought of something HYDRA created running through his veins makes him itch underneath his skin, even if it did do something to help him. Grasping at the need to change the subject, he says, “So, what’re you in for?”

He means it as a joke–partly, at least–but it doesn’t land that way. It’s as if a steel gate snaps shut between them, and he knows he’s not going to get anything from the Soldier about that. He holds up a hand. “Alright. Not talking about whatever fucked up reason HYDRA locked me up with their most notorious and deadly assassin. Check. Any other topics I should avoid?”

The steel gate opens a crack, but just. “Do we have to talk?”

“They didn’t leave me with anything but my aids, so I think conversation’s all we’ve got to pass the time. Unless you’ve got a deck of cards in your pocket.” He gives the Soldier a hopeful look. It earns him a scowl.

“I’ve got nothing to talk about.”

Clint grins. “I can probably talk enough for both of us.”

*

After over an hour rambling about feathers versus plastic fletching, the Soldier finally growls, “Enough!” When Clint falls silent he takes a deep breath and the sigh he lets out is saturated with relief. “That’s better. Do you always have to be talking?” he asks.

“Not always,” Clint says, his voice raspy with overuse. “But often. I’ve been told I have a nice voice; don’t you like to listen to it?” He knows he shouldn’t let that thread of wounded pride slip into his voice, but he’s tired and confused and locked in a room with someone who keeps trying to kill his friends. So maybe he gets a break for not being able to control every little thing.

“When you’re giving me an archery lecture? No.”

“You should participate, then. You know, conversation? You talk, then I talk, then you again? Any topic can be applied.”

The Soldier is quiet, but Clint doesn’t interrupt the silence. Finally he says, “I don’t have many opportunities for casual conversation.” His voice is soft, almost sad.

Clint inwardly kicks himself. Of course the Soldier isn’t much of a talker. He’s more of a follow orders kind of guy. Clint’s about to apologize, say he’ll just shut up for a while, when the Soldier says, “I’d like to try.”

Masking his surprise, Clint says evenly, “Oh. Okay.” When the Soldier doesn’t say anything, he adds, “What should we talk about?”

The Soldier looks thoughtful, then says, “Tell me about your life.” Clint must visibly put his defenses up, because the Soldier holds up a hand to mollify him. “I don’t want secrets about Avengers Tower. You don’t have to tell me all about your teammates. Just tell me what it’s like, living with people you care about.”

Something about that statement pierce’s Clint’s heart. This guy really is alone. It’s not like HYDRA goons are gonna sit around and play cards with him, or chat about the latest episode of Dog Cops. So Clint starts talking. He talks about staggering onto the common floor in the morning, heading straight for the coffee pot, about Steve and Sam bickering while they make eggs and toast and bacon, about how the team arrives in ones and twos but they all seem to get there to eat breakfast together. Most days, anyway. The Soldier has to be coaxed into joining the conversation, but Clint keeps asking questions and ever so slowly he begins to talk.

“Do you like scrambled eggs? Or bacon?” Clint asks.

The Soldier squints, thinking, as he stares off at nothing. “I don’t...I don’t remember,” he finally says. “I do remember toast, though. It’s best with strawberry jam, but we didn’t have that very often. And if we did, I gave it to…”

Clint desperately wants to ask, Gave it to who? because Clint knows nothing at all about the Soldier, only that he is impossibly old and has been HYDRA’s secret weapon and assassin for decades. He seems to be talking about his life before becoming the Winter Soldier, and Clint had never thought about him as having any kind of a “before”. Like maybe he’d been created in a lab or something. Raised by goons and mad scientists. But maybe he’d been just a regular guy who’d been caught up by HYDRA.

Just like he had.

He can’t hold back his shiver at that thought. He can’t imagine becoming like the Soldier.

“I like strawberries, too,” Clint says, in what he hopes is a close imitation of his normal voice. “Strawberries always say ‘summer’ to me, though. I always feel weird eating them in other seasons.”

“I’d eat a strawberry anytime,” the Soldier says. He sounds almost wistful.

It’s quiet for a few minutes, and Clint’s wondering if he should fill up the silence when the Soldier says, “Tell me more.” Then, quiet and hesitant, “Please.”

Clint doesn’t like that there’s a man under the mask. The Soldier is an enemy, someone to be wary of, to avoid or to attack, depending on the situation. But this...this is a person. And Clint is almost–almost–starting to like him. He already feels sorry for him. And that is dangerous.

But he goes on talking. “When we’re not off Avengering–”

“Don’t you mean avenging?” the Soldier interrupts.

“Leave my grammar out of this. When we’re not off Avengering…” He says the word slowly, one syllable at a time, smirking, “we do normal stuff. Movie nights. Video games. Stacks of pizzas. Enough sandwiches to feed an army. We work out, too–gotta stay in shape to be a superhero.” He grins. “Or even the regular kind, like me. We go to the gym, we spar, we have target practice. We’ve got a great range…”

He trails off, not wanting to give too many details about the inner workings of the Tower. But the Soldier just looks at him. “I’ve never even held a bow,” he says. “Not that I can remember, anyway.”

“You’ve never–” Clint shouts, then he stops, takes a breath. “Of course, you wouldn’t need to, you’re rather talented with firearms.”

“And knives,” the Soldier adds.

“Right. And knives. How could I forget.” Images of the Soldier holding a blade, his near inhuman speed, his deadly accuracy, cross Clint’s mind, flip-flip-flip. He makes a valiant effort and manages to keep the sarcasm from his voice. It’s a near thing.

The Soldier looks at the floor. “I’m very well trained,” he mumbles.

They talk about movies–the Soldier knows he’s been to see movies, but he can’t remember anything about them, so Clint tells him the major plot points of a few of his favorites. They talk about video games, another blank slate for the Soldier. Clint tries to explain Mario Kart, but the Soldier can’t seem to grasp the point, so he gives up after ten minutes or so. In the middle of a rather intense conversation about life with siblings–Clint’s brother, the Soldier’s sister–Clint yawns so big his jaw cracks.

“I think I need to sleep,” Clint says, looking around as if a bed and pillow might magically appear. The room remains empty, so Clint just sighs and sprawls on his back with his hands behind his head. “Whatever they did to heal me, I’m suddenly hitting a wall.” He yawns again. The Soldier watches him, says nothing. Clint takes note of the fact that he apparently isn’t susceptible to the whole ‘yawns are contagious’ thing.

He should be nervous, being so vulnerable just feet away from the Winter Soldier. He should be on edge, unable to rest, let alone sleep. But less than a minute after he closes his eyes he’s asleep. Just before he drifts off he thinks he hears a murmured, “Sleep well,” but he’s probably imagining things.

***

Author’s note: I’m posting chapter one of this as a birthday gift to myself, because I’ve been working on it for a long time and I just couldn’t wait any longer. Quite a bit of it is already written, but I have no set posting schedule, and no idea how many chapters there will be or anything like that. It’ll come when it comes. But I’m having so much fun with it, I can’t wait to share more!!!

💜

#lirael writes #winterhawk #marvel fic #enemies to friends to lovers #slow burn #and lots and lots of pining #also #there was only one bed #*gasp* #i swear i'm halfway just writing this so i can put my favorite tropes all into one fic #(all but one; no one has wings...hahahahaha)

[illshowyourhurricanes]

In The Line Of Fire (Part 3)

Taking a break from requested drabbles for today to bring y’all the finale of this three-part series, brought to you from this prompt by sarahseleckywritingschool on Instagram. In part one, we saw Billy at Arthur’s place, and in part 2 we got a glimpse of seeing things through Ryan’s eyes (and get a glimpse into his mind). This is my first real foray into writing for Logan, and it is a doozy. He’s a beautifully written, complex character and I hope I did him and his story some justice. Parts one and two can be found in my masterlist. Please let me know what you think, I’m anxious about this one!

Trigger warning: mentions of / drug use and angst. All the angst.

Rating: R

Word count: 1649

Tag list: @obscurilicious @the-blind-assassin-12 @something-tofightfor @logan-deloss @lexxierave @madamrogers @yannii04 @gollyderek @carlaangel86 @bicevans @maydayfigment @thisisparadisemylove @delos-destinations @malionnes @thesandbeneathmytoes @crushed-pink-petals-writes

If anyone would like to be added to or removed from my tag list, please just send an ask!

Hugest of the huge special thanks fot @the-blind-assassin-12​ for encouraging and convincing me an infinite amount of times to actually write this.

The orange flame coming from the light blue lighter Logan held in his large hand reflected in his dark, glossy eyes. Leaning back in his chair, his feet crossed at the ankles and propped up onto his solid wood Scarborough desk, his gaze rose to land on the small baggie of white powder lying just to the right of his feet. Logan Delos was deep into his latest relapse, back off the straight and narrow illusion of a filthy rich, capable, responsible mother fucker and heir of a multi-million dollar empire. No, Logan had hopped onto another wagon, one that took him to places nothing or no one else could touch. He was in love with what it did to him, the instant rush of euphoria, being on top of the fucking world with his ego swelling with confidence and purpose—the rush followed by the numbing of the bullshit and the descent into the reprieve of the constant buzzing in his brain. A warmth spread through his veins and he knew that he was Logan Delos: untouchable, desirable, anything he could ever wish for right there at his fingertips for the taking. 

He was Logan Delos, a man that others chased and craved like he chased and craved the drug there at his feet. A fuck, a needle, sleep, repeat; Logan lived a lavish, hedonistic lifestyle and he was in control; he decided when he’d do the drugs, how much he’d indulge in how often. He decided. 

That point in his life had passed. Logan was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a liar, not even to himself. He was a failure, a junkie, the regrettable piece of shit his father had no qualms reminding him of. Here you are, Jim. Take a look at your son. 

Logan’s lip curled in disgust at the mere thought of his father, and the only reason he let himself think of that wretched bastard as his father was strictly biological. He had never and would never be a “dad”; he didn’t have the capacity. “You’re a disappointment,” he muttered, words James Delos had directed toward Logan so many times, he should be desensitized by now. Should be. “You’re a piece of shit, Logan. This company will never be yours. You’re a junkie.”

A junkie. Logan flicked the light blue, plastic Bic lighter on, lifting his thumb seconds later and extinguishing the flame. He was mesmerized by the immediate lighting and extinguishing of the flame, allowing himself to get lost in the simplicity and complexity of creating fire with one finger. The spoon he used for cooking the powder down into a liquid was right there by the baggie Logan was considering. Fuck it, he thought, and he tossed the lighter onto his desk carelessly, feet hitting the floor and propelling his chair closer toward the table. 

One large hand scooped up both the baggie and silver spoon— Logan relished in the fact that one of Jim’s overly expensive, custom made silver spoons was a constant in his heroin kit— a whisky tumbler half-filled with days’ old water, and a hypodermic needle. Leaning down closer to the desk’s mahogany surface, the baggie was unzipped, spoon perched between his thin and index finger on the ready. The tip of his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth in concentration, he tapped the plastic bag until he was satisfied with the amount of white powder that spilled out into his spoon. Baggie set aside, traded out for the needle, he drew up a small amount of water, slowly filling the spoon, the remaining water shot out into the garbage can kept under his desk. 

He needed that lighter again, and he carefully reached for the spot it had landed when he’d tossed it, the far corner of his desk. He balanced the spoon precariously as he retrieved the lighter and an expression of arrogance and pride passed over his features, vanishing just as quickly as it had appeared. Logan was ritualistic in the way he used heroin, and preparing it was a big part of that. This was one of those times Logan preferred not to experience; his craving had turned into a need, an essential substance with a vice so strong, it brought with it an overwhelming anxiety. His hand trembled as he held the lighter beneath the spoon. His palms were damp with sweat; he was agitated and his arm itches like he’d been covered in fire ants. The Delos estate could have been on fire and Logan would remain sitting with the task at hand. Nothing else mattered. 

Finally, the heroin was liquified. Eagerly, he dipped the tip of his needle into the shallow solution, slowly drawing the drug into the syringe. He dropped the spoon with a clatter, turned the needle point upward and tapped on the side of the syringe. Tiny air bubbles appeared atop the solution and Logan slowly, carefully, tediously applied pressure to the plunger until a drop of the solution dripped from the needle. Any air had been evacuated. It was time. 

Logan was shaking, both from anticipation and need. Small beads of sweat were beginning to appear at his brow. With his sacred drug—his lifeline— he pushed his desk chair back, standing and taking long strides to reach the other side of his expansive bedroom. 

He didn’t even pause as he flipped the light switch to illuminate his walk-in closet, full of expensive designer casual wear, but mostly with suits— Brioni and Gucci, Tom Ford and Burberry. Neat rows of impeccable shoes were lined up perfectly by shade and style. But Logan noticed none of this. He had tunnel vision, and  he went straight for his tie rack. He needed a silk tie, easy to knot yet strong enough that it wouldn’t break while serving its purpose. 

Snatching a tie he knew would do the trick, he allowed it to unroll itself as he left his closet. Holding the capped syringe between his teeth, he used both hands to hold each end of the necktie to his upper arm, at the halfway point of his elbow and bicep. Deftly, he knotted it around  his arm securely, but with enough give to unknot easily when it was time. An authentic Stefano Ricci, Jim. 100% silk. Easily over $1500. Your junkie, ticking time bomb, fucking failure of a son doesn’t skimp on the details: designer ties as tourniquets to shoot up his pure, white heroin. Only the best for a Delos. Right, dear old dad?

He felt his lip curl in disgust as he sat back in his chair, syringe still held between two rows of perfectly straight, startlingly white teeth. Pumping his left fist several times over— open and squeeze, open and squeeze— he watched as his skin below the tourniquet began to discolor. With two long fingers of his right hand, he struck his forearm several times, barely noticing the very visible track marks at the crook of his elbow, the newer one that was halfway up the inside of his forearm. He was looking for a vein. 

Bingo.  

There it was, popped out and bulging, an inch below the crook of his elbow, a long patch of skin free of any track marks or puncture wounds. Not for long. His teeth gave way as he reached for the waiting syringe holding the one thing in his life that gave Logan back the love he felt for it. If— when— it killed him, he’d die feeling un-fucking-touchable. His only regret would be missing the opportunity of Jim Delos’ horrendous smile at the sight of his only son’s corpse. 

It was miraculous the way Logan could manage to steady his shaking to inject. He bit at the orange cap over the needle, spitting it off to the side. Holding the syringe precariously like a cigarette between forefinger and middle finger, he dipped his head to hold a dangling part of his tie between his teeth, just as he had the needle. 

With one sting of the needle puncturing his pale skin, Logan yanked his head back, the loose knot he’d tied in his RIcci necktie unraveling and falling away. It was a deep red, the color of ox blood, and a bitter laugh escaped from low in his throat. And then, Logan pushed the plunger. 

By the time he finished and tossed the used needle and syringe to the side, Logan was only able to lick the residual drop of blood from his arm when the rush began. There was the familiar warmth coursing along with the circulation of his blood, from the core of his body down into the tips of his toes and fingers. Without a warning, Logan felt and indescribable euphoria that nothing could hold a candle to, not even an almost violent orgasm causing his entire body to quake. 

Heroin was a paradox. With the euphoria came a sense of calm and a heaviness of his body. With the pleasure would come the pain. Everything eventually collided, but Logan relished in the crash. He needed it, and he accepted that. The only thing he could rely on was something that would never refuse him what he sought out. The only thing that wouldn’t pulverize his heart and his pride, wound him with a hole too deep to heal. 

The heaviness and calm gave way to any sense of strength, Logan’s head falling back and rolling from side to side at the back of his leather desk chair until it fell slightly to the right. He was unable to keep his eyes from closing, long hair falling over his forehead as he nodded. An amalgamation of jumbled, broken thoughts floated through his mind, past the fog of disorientation that would inevitably fade into sleep: Wrong… this is the wrong door.. where’s the fucking.. it’s the wrong world. This is all an illusion. 

#in the line of fire #part 3 #itlof3 #logan delos #tw: drug use #my writing

[thesunshinebunny]

Can I get a fic of Erik comforting MC who has some self-confidence issues?

This on is veeeery long, so buckle up to your seats

The morning started like any other. The sun entering without asking permission through the huge window of the room, my heavy eyelids being violated by the rays, the sheets starting to weigh on the bare skin. A day like any other.And one more day I didn’t want to get out of bed.

One more day of that damn bunch in which I didn’t want to interact with anyone, not even exist. One more day wishing to be another person, in another part of the world.

I felt the sheets start moving next to me and being removed seconds later. The weight on my companion’s side became lighter when he got up, leaving only a trace of heat on the bed.

I turned to keep that comforting heat on my body, ending up using all the sheets for myself. I could hear the noise of the coffee maker preparing the sour and strong liquid, bumps of utensils crashing between them and the dishes being removed from the countertop. My ex bed companion was preparing breakfast.

I wanted to go down to greet him, I really wanted to, but I didn’t want him to see me in this detestable state. I didn’t want him to see my body covered by a little excuse of pajamas, I didn’t want him to see my matted hair, or my eyes full of lizards. No. I didn’t want him to see me.

After a few minutes, the smell of coffee impregnate the environment and I could feel the aroma approaching the room. Small steps accompanied it as well as a small hum of a melody that I didnt know. The steps ceased to meet the door which in seconds was opened.´

“Ha! I see that the princess / prince is still in bed ”

Erik.

How I wanted to hug him in those moments, but my mind forced me to stay where I was, still, pretending to be asleep.

“Well, it seems they is still asleep” I could hear him whispering over my shoulder. The warmth of his breath tickled my skin. It was comforting, and at the same time intimidating.

I am unable to say how long it was until I felt a hand rest on my head and soft lips perch on my forehead. "Keep sleeping princess / prince and have a good day” and with that he left the room and minutes later, from the mansion.

Unfortunately I knew I wasn’t going to have a good day.

———————————————————————————————————–

I didn’t have the strength for hours to get out of bed, nor to eat. When I had finally been able to sit on the bed, it was past four in the afternoon and the breakfast was already more than cold. I wasn’t hungry or wanted to have something in my stomach and I knew that if I continued on this path, I would pass out sooner or later.

I don’t know what supernatural strength gave me the strength to get out of bed, but I didn’t get very far. I managed to go out to the balcony, with a blanket over my body, covering myself from the light spring winds. In the distance I could see a small pink dot approaching the mansion.

Erik was back.

I sighed, knowing what was about to happen. I sat on the cold marble floor, waiting for my flirtatious companion to reach the room.

Minutes seemed hours, hours of agony. An unbearable agony which forced my tears to spill down my cheeks. I heard his characteristic steps approach and the door opened in the following seconds.

“Princess / Prince, I arrived, how was the…” He noticed the breakfast still on the little bedside table. “Princess / Prince, where are you?”

I had no voice to answer, so my sobs guided him to me. I felt ashamed from my chest and tried to find comfort inside the piece of cloth. His arms surrounded me and he brought me close to his chest, placing my ear on his throbbing heart.“It’s ok, if you need to cry, just do it, I’m right here”

As if his words were from a hypnotist, I began to cry inconsolably. I felt like I was going into a sad scene of a movie; time stopped, actions arose in slow motion, the sound faded. It was everything I needed to release, but at the same time, it wasn’t enough.

The sky was dark when my tears stopped falling and my breathing returned to normal. It was getting much colder and apparently Erik noticed. His hug became stronger and as if I weighed nothing, he lifted me up in the air and led me to bed.

“Can you tell me what is bothering your head?”

“It’s just that…” it was hard to start, my lungs asked for more air than they needed, I felt trapped and couldn’t breathe normally.

“Breathe, breathe with me" I spent the next five minutes imitating his breathing, slowly calming down until I could control my own body again.

“I just … I don’t understand why you are with someone like me”

“Someone like You? Princess / Prince, what do you mean? ”

"Can’t you see it?! You are a damn incubus, with an incredibly perfect body, a voice too sexy that would melt any glacier, eyes that eat with the look at any damn thing that moves !! AND ME…”

I breathed for a few seconds to calm down and continue.

“I… I have nothing special. I’m a little fat, I have scars and pimples everywhere, I’m not tall at all and I don’t even get close to fucking beauty standards ”

For the first time all day, I finally had the courage to look at him in the eye. Two pairs of sad eyes met, mine injected with blood, his own … as if his heart had been broken for the first time.

“I am nothing and yet you are still with me … why?”

Erik said nothing at first, he just looked at my face. His eyes passed through mine, through my cheeks, through my lips and finally, through the crown of my hair. He extended his hand to me, he was trembling just like my body. I took it doubtful between my two hands and he guided me to the huge mirror in the room.

He positioned me in front of it, placing himself behind me, holding my hip. “What do you see there?”

“… both of us”

“Good, and what else?”

“Your incredible eyes”

“I’m flattered Princess / Prince, but this is not about me” he raised my hand and brought it to his sweet lips, giving it a light kiss on the knuckles. “This is about you, what do you see in the mirror?”

Seeing my lack of ability to speak, Erik regained control once again.

“Do you know what I see? I see… a person with a big heart, one too much to let five incubus lived in their huge mansion” the other hand that held my hip went up to my chest and ended up placing on my heart.

“I see a person with a bright smile that illuminates any room they enters. I see eyes full of love that are always looking for the most hidden truth. But above all…”

He turned me around, making our eyes meet again, and held my face in his hands.

“I see the most beautiful and gigantic soul that I fell in love with. Princess / Prince, I don’t care if you’re taller or shorter than me, if you have scars or marks, if you’re chubby or not. I fell in love with your being, not your physique ”

His lips brushed mine slowly and gently, waiting for my reaction. Internally, I think Erik didn’t want to get me nervous.

“I love you. I will love you til my last breath ”

#seduce me the otome #seduce me the otome 2 #seduce me erik #seduce me imagine #seduce me fic #seduce me the otome imagine #seduce me the otome fic #erik anderson #erik incubus #seduce me the otome fluff #sfw #fluff #loveyourself #izroul #erik x reader

[cakesunflower]

War of Hearts [Gang!Calum AU] Part 4

Previous Parts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Part 4

“Wait, wait—what? This is a joke, right? You’re joking?”

Calum shot her an irritated look as they stepped out of his car, aware of Ruby gaping at him as he locked the vehicle and walked towards the entrance of her apartment building. “Do I look like I’m jokin’?” he returned, not even bothering to look at her, but the annoyance in his voice was clear as day.

Ruby wanted to say he didn’t look like anything, given he was the king of keeping his expressions at bay, as she quickly followed after him. Her keys were digging into the palm of her hand as she clenched them tightly, holding her breath in her lungs. Her feet moved under her and she was surprised that she hadn’t stumbled yet, seeing as this was the first time she’d be letting Calum Hood into her apartment. But that was only a small worry, considering what he’d just told her.

“For how long?” she asked as he opened the building door, impatiently waiting for her to walk in before following after her. Oh, he wasn’t in a good mood. Hadn’t been since the moment they left the Riders’ safe house, and he hadn’t even told her why. Only that she was going to live with him until he said so. No explanation. Not that that was surprising, but did he seriously just expect her to obey without question? She wasn’t a fucking Rider—she had every right to know.

“Until I say so,” Calum snapped, clearly at the end of his thinning patience at repeating the same thing once more, and Ruby pressed her lips together as his rough voice echoed in the stairwell. She only lived on the second floor, so the elevator wasn’t necessary.

Her heart was jumping, nervous and scared and just dreading all of this. How the hell was she supposed to just live with him? How did he expect her to be comfortable with that, to even want to? She and Calum barely spoke, she still felt her nerves frazzle whenever he was near. She wouldn’t survive ten minutes living with him.

She wished Michael was back.

Calum was silent until they got to her room and that’s when Ruby had enough. As soon as he shut the door behind him, Ruby crossed her arms over her chest and faced him, feeling a surge of confidence she never had around him. But Calum was being vague about something that completely had to do with her and just expected her to follow his order without any questions.

“What’s going on?” Ruby asked, swallowing as Calum stopped and looked at her. “You tell me that I have to pack my stuff up and come to your place without even telling me why and that’s—that’s not how this works. You have to give me a reason, Calum.”

Calum raised his eyebrows at her words, recognizing the pattern here. Ruby was always quiet around him but if she was pushed this certain way or that, she spoke up against him. Right now, though, as much as he liked her pretty face, Calum stared at her challengingly as he stalked towards her slowly. “Oh, I do, do I?” he questioned, tilting his head as he neared her, seeing the nervousness that flashed across her face. He was too aggravated, too fucking pissed off, to care as he came to a stop right in front of Ruby, seemingly freezing her in place as his dark eyes looked down at her, voice rough and hard. “I don’t have to tell you shit, sweetheart. When I tell you to do somethin’, you get it done. It’s that simple.”

He saw her throat working, shoulders rising slightly as she took in a breath before saying in a voice she couldn’t keep too steady, “Not when you’re asking me to move out of my apartment.”

Calum’s eyes rolled to the ceiling as he let out a frustrated groan and took a step back. “Fuckin’ hell—it’s not permanent, alright? You need to be protected and instead of lockin’ you up in one of the safe houses, I’m keepin’ you with me, alright? Like it or not, Red, you’re my responsibility and I’m not lettin’ you out of my sight.”

She stared at him, eyebrows drawn together and eyes widening. His loud, annoyed voice didn’t affect her nearly as much as his words did. “Keep me protected from what?” Ruby asked, the suspicion and appropriate fear creeping into her voice.

Calum had been running his fingers through his hair, pausing when she spoke before letting his hand drop to his side, curls a mess. He looked at her for a moment, his intense stare, as always, bringing heat to her skin. If Calum ever found out just how many reactions he got from her body just by looking at her, Ruby was pretty sure she’d die of mortification. “The Sabers are after you,” Calum finally announced with a breath, factual and brutally honest. “They’re retaliating against Michael, against all of us, and they’re using you to do it. You’re five minutes too far out of Rider territory so there’s no one around to protect you, which means you can’t stay here. You’ll be with me until I take care of it.” Gesturing to the hallway he could see, Calum added, “So could you just pack up whatever the hell you need so we can go?”

But Ruby was frozen, staring at Calum in disbelief as her lungs were robbed of air and her heart was once again pounding in her ears. Her body had ached this morning when she had woken up, but that felt like nothing compared to the way she could feel her bones rattling in her skin at the news. A target. She was a fucking target for a group of trigger happy men and the mere thought of that was injecting ice into her veins.

Ruby was used to living in fear of Michael’s well being—though, was that something she’d ever get used to?—but now she was involved, too? They were after her? There was a part of her that always believed, no matter Michael’s reassurances, that she could potentially be a target against enemies of the Riders’. It was almost a given with being related to or involved with a Rider. But now it was a blatant reality and Ruby’s body was tight. Her muscles had tensed, almost painfully, as her lungs screamed for air she couldn’t inhale, heart hammering. She was seconds away from having a full blown panic attack.

“Oi, Red, stay with me.” Her widened eyes, dry from lack of blinking, flickered up to meet Calum’s dark ones under furrowed eyebrows. He had taken a few steps towards her, and even through her panicked state she could see a hint of concern on his face. Subtle, but still there. “Start packing, yeah? Then we’ll go from there.” Calum then put a hand on her shoulder before carefully turning her towards the hallway, giving her a gentle push.   

She moved slowly, almost like a zombie, swallowing to rid of the dryness in her throat as she entered her room. She worked almost mindlessly, pulling out a carry on from under her bed and packing her clothes and anything else she’d need, trying not to think of the reason why she was packing. In a backpack she put in her laptop and toiletries, swallowing the lump in her throat once she was finished. Holy shit—was this really happening? Having to move out of her home because it was too dangerous to be by herself seemed like a horrible practical joke.

“I can still go to work, right?” Ruby asked worriedly once she came back into the living room with her things. Calum had been staring out the window, turning to look at her at the sound of her voice. “I won’t be some kind of prisoner, will I?” She couldn’t just not show up to work; she needed the money, wasn’t swimming in real and mostly counterfeit cash like Calum and all of the Riders.

He approached her, grabbing the carry on before walking towards the door. “It’d be better if you didn’t.”

Ruby didn’t move from her spot, gaping at Calum’s back. She truly hoped he didn’t genuinely expect her not to show up to work for who knows how long. “I can’t skip out on work,” she said, the assertion slipping into her voice without her meaning for it to. Whether or not Calum intimidated her, radiated menace and threat, skipping out on her job wasn’t something she was going to negotiate on. “I can’t—I’m not going to put my life on hold because of some threat.”

“It’s not a fuckin’ threat. It’s a promise,” Calum’s guttural voice growled, turning around to look at her with that infamous glare that had her heart stopping for a moment. The fire that had been in his eyes all morning was still present, still burning, as he clenched his jaw at her. Calum took in the way her throat worked, looking away from him and frowning to herself in dismay and disappointment and fear. Pursing his lips, Calum’s grip on the carry on tightened for a moment as he let himself think. He needed for her to be safe, but he didn’t want her to be miserable. And as much as he hated the thought of letting her out of his sight for a few hours in the day where anything could happen, he knew keeping her locked up would only piss her off. Calum figured he’d just have a few Riders stationed around her place of work just to keep an eye out. “Fine. You can go to work. But only with either me or a Rider picking and dropping you off, alright?”

Ruby looked back at him. “I can drive my—” At the sight of his scowl, somehow making his dark eyes seem so icy, the words died in Ruby’s throat. She didn’t want to be someone he thought he could just boss around, but Calum had just lost four people last night. Pushing him wasn’t the best idea on any other day, much less today. So she relented, not that she would’ve have under that withering stare. “Okay.”

Calum let out a slow breath through his nose, gaze relaxing a bit, though the tension was still present, as he gave a stiff nod. Without another word, he turned around and made his way towards the door once more, this time Ruby following after him with her keys in hand. She fumbled with them as she locked her apartment door behind her, his presence already so nerve wracking tht Ruby had no idea how she was going to survive living with him.

“Going on a trip, honey?”

Pulling her key out, Ruby looked to her right, Calum’s gaze following as her sixty-two year old neighbor smiled at her. Ruby, despite her nerves, returned the smile. “Yeah, Mrs. May, you can say that,” she said a bit breathlessly.

Mrs. May’s light brown eyes flickered to the man standing beside Ruby, smiling at the sight of him as she cooed, “With your boyfriend, I’m guessing?”

Ruby nearly choked on her breath, eyes widening slightly at her words as embarrassed heat flushed her cheeks as the weight of her backpack suddenly felt too heavy. She didn’t dare look at Calum, lips parting to spew God knows what, when he beat her to it. “That’s right,” he spoke up, deep voice smooth. Ruby froze, not even looking at him, as he offered a charming smile. How was he able to switch attitudes like that so quickly, without even blinking an eye? “Bit of a getaway for my girl,” he added, arm draping over Ruby’s shoulders as he pulled her towards him.

She tried not to appear as stunned as she felt, hoping to keep the smile plastered on her face as she kept her gaze on Mrs. May, who looked at the two with a warm smile. Ruby, on the other hand, could feel her cheeks beginning to ache from the effort it took to put on the false smile, trying not to acknowledge the strange flip her stomach did when Calum referred to her as my girl, or let her knees buckle under the pressure of his arm around her. She definitely tried not to notice the scent of leather, cigarettes, and Calum enveloping her.

“Oh, how sweet,” Mrs. May gushed, raising her eyebrows pointedly at Calum as she nodded at Ruby. “You take care of her, alright?”

Oh, the irony.

Calum may have been thinking the same thing, letting out a chuckle that sounded forced to even Ruby’s ears as he assured the old lady, “Plan on it, ma’am.”

                                                             *****

When Ruby woke up, it was two-thirty in the morning, she was gasping for air, and she wasn’t in her bedroom. All she could focus on, however, was that there was a thin layer of sweat on her skin, as if it had come from the fire that had exploded in her dream. Where she was flung and thrown against the pavement, jolting awake right as she made contact with the ground. Ruby closed her eyes as she tried to even out her breathing, running her fingers through her hair and flinching when the heel of her palm accidentally pressed against the injury. The injury she had received from what happened in the horrifying moment she was reliving in her dreams. Was this going to be a thing from now on? Was she going to have to suffer through nightmares of what was the most violent moment of her life?

Letting out a sigh, Ruby kicked off the covers and got out of bed, shivers shooting up her spine as her feet touched the cold floor. Her body felt hot and throat was dry, desperately in need of a cold glass of water.

Acutely aware that she wasn’t in her own apartment, Ruby moved quietly, knowing there was a man asleep at the other end of the hall. When Calum had showed her to the guest room earlier, Ruby had to bite her tongue into asking why she’d woken up in his bed that morning. But Calum was agitated, obviously under the weight of the Sabers killing three of his men and Renee, putting Lincoln in the hospital, and then a threat on Ruby’s own head. This whole situation was something to adjust to.

And Michael knew nothing about it.

It was Calum’s idea, of course, but even Ruby wasn’t too keen on telling her brother that she’d been involved in an explosion. Or had recently become a target. Calum would take care of it, like he had said, so she had nothing to worry about. Hopefully.

Calum kept the stove light on, proving the stainless steel kitchen with a warm glow as she picked up a glass from the drying rack and filled it with water from the fridge dispenser. Ruby wasn’t too sure why she was so surprised that Calum’s place was so well put together. Everything was a shade of grey, with black or white furniture, splashes of colors being provided by the few plants he had scattered about as well as a deep red and black carpet in the middle of the living room. Everything was neat, not that he had many personal belongings around. Ruby didn’t know what she had expected, but his expensive apartment—the one that was in a building with security guards on Calum’s payroll—was actually quite nice.

After she rinsed off her glass and put it back on the rack, feeling much more cooled down after drinking it, yet still feeling her nerves being shaken from the dream, Ruby moved to go back to the room. But right as she exited the kitchen, having to pass the living room, her eyes washed over a silhouette sitting on the couch, slouched with elbows on their knees and head in their hands, and let out a startled gasp as she took a step back.

Her heart was pounding, eyes widening as they struggled to adjust to the dark, until Calum’s low voice drawled, “Relax, it’s just me.”

Ruby pressed her hand against her racing heart, not feeling entirely too relaxed. It was the middle of the night, what was he doing sitting on the couch in the dark? “Are you okay?” she asked, the hesitance clear in her quiet voice, as if she didn’t want to disrupt the silence he had been sitting in.

“Fine,” Calum gruffed, and once Ruby’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, saw him bowing his head so one hand could run through his curls and rub up and down the back of his head before he let out a small breath. “Go back to bed.”

She wanted to. She should’ve. But instead, Ruby took a step forward, surprising even herself, as her eyebrows drew upwards. He was in his pajama pants, upper half shirtless, but she didn’t let that distract her as she asked, “Are you sure?” Why was she pushing this? “If you wanna talk I can—I’ll listen.”

Her lips pressed together, swallowing, as Calum lifted his head. His dark eyes were on her, curls messier than usual atop his head, and even through the lack of light in the room Ruby could see how tired he looked. Calum leaned back against the couch, legs spread and arms resting on his thighs as he regarded her, the necklaces glinted occasionally against the kitchen light, and Ruby tried not to bristle under his gaze. Tried to focus on the sleepy furrow in his eyebrows, on how he didn’t look as intimidating as he did in every other given moment—though the threat his being seemed to still carried wasn’t lost on her.  

The darkness was Calum’s old friend, Ruby knew that. Knew that if he was perilous to be around during the day, then at night it’d be better to lock yourself in your room than to risk running into Calum. Ruby knew, from the years Michael had joined the Riders, that Calum wasn’t the type to run around hurting people, putting bullets in them for the fun of it. He only got his hands dirty if someone truly deserved it, wasn’t hesitant on pulling the trigger if it meant even the smallest of enemies wouldn’t cross his paths again.

Getting on Calum’s bad side wasn’t something she ever wanted to risk, whether she was his best friend’s sister or not. You were either at your safest or your life was in danger if you were around Calum. And seeing as she already had a target painted on her back from someone else, Ruby was slowly figuring she’d be safer with Calum.

She swallowed when he didn’t say anything, just stared at her. And Ruby was quick to realize what was keeping him up at night, forgetting her own reasons for being up at two-thirty in the morning. “Are you thinking about—”

“Lincoln in the hospital? My people I got killed? Yeah,” Calum finished, voice coated with rasp that was thicker from his lack of sleep.

Ruby’s lips parted, his words surprising her as her frown deepened. She was playing with her fingers in front of her, a nervous tick. “What happened wasn’t your fault, Calum.”

Calum, already agitated, already pissed, from everything that happened, let out a harsh scoff as he pushed himself up from the couch with an indignant shake of his head. “Don’t give me that shit,” he all but snapped, walking around the glass coffee table to where Ruby stood. Surprisingly, she stood her ground, though she felt her heart pumping, as he approached her while growling, “They were my men, in my bar—”

“They were Riders in a known Rider hang out,” Ruby cut in, the firmness in her voice silencing Calum as he frowned down at her, probably not liking the fact that he was interrupted. When he spoke, everyone shut up and listen. That’s just how it was. Ruby hoped a lump wouldn’t form in her throat, somehow managing to maintain eye contact with the looming, tense man in front of him. “The Sabers are the ones that killed them, who hurt Lincoln, not you. You’re the one that’s going to make sure someone pays for what they did.”

Honestly, Ruby had no idea where these words were coming from, had no idea why she felt so compelled to make sure they got through Calum’s head so he could be rid of at least some of that guilt. Ruby wasn’t naive enough to think a few words from her, or anyone, would be enough to let Calum go to sleep peacefully tonight. He lost friends, and he was pissed and grieving. And on top of that he had the responsibility of making sure the Sabers didn’t kill her, too? Ruby understood why he couldn’t sleep. Wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t get much sleep, either, with a bunch of people ready to put a bullet or two in her.

She knew what Calum had meant when he said he’d take care of it, and Ruby felt a chill run down her spine at the acknowledgement that she didn’t care what he did, so long as she and everyone else they knew would be safe. From the Sabers, at least.

“Puttin’ a lot of faith in me, are you?”

His words brought Ruby back to reality, looking up at Calum as the kitchen light behind her splashed against him. Brown eyes were gleaming, but she could see the question in them that matched the question he asked. And while eye contact with Calum was too quickly becoming a thing now, Ruby figured it was better than letting her eyes trail over his shirtless front, the tattoos inked against his skin and old scars and wounds and bruises from the other night making him up to be who he was. Ruby acutely ignored the sudden itch to trail her fingers over every inch of him, the thought fluttering through her mind destructively.

There was only a little bit of distance between them, enough for them to have their own personal bubble, but not enough as to where Ruby wasn’t smelling the faint scent of his cologne and the intoxicating rain forest-like smell of Calum with every inhale. It was dizzying.

“I have to,” she responded, her voice a quiet mutter, reverting back to the timidness she often spoke to him with. The voice that she unknowingly drove Calum crazy with as the muscle in his jaw clenched when she spoke. “You brought me here to protect me, didn’t you? I gotta trust that you’re gonna keep your word.”

Calum lifted his chin a little, strong jawline and scruff shown in all its glory, as his eyes narrowed subtly, full lips pursing for a brief moment before he spoke up again. “Do you?” he questioned, eyes flickering between hers. “Trust me?”

He was vicious. A literal gangbanger with blood on his hands. But he was also her brother’s best friend. Someone Michael had told her, time and time again, that he trusted with his life. Someone who’d never actually given Ruby a reason or indication that he would physically ever harm her, though she knew he was capable of hurting anyone. But he brought her here, into his home to keep safe, whether it’s because she’s Michael’s sister or out of some kind of moral obligation or whatever. He’d been insistent and firm on this arrangement, giving her no room for argument. Maybe he could put a stop to anymore of these nightmares from occurring.

But did she trust him?

When Ruby thought about that, she quickly realized she didn’t have a reason not to. He was a terrifying man, was capable of lots of unspeakable things Ruby didn’t want to think of this time at night. But he’d never shown that intense of a side towards her. Kept his business separate until now. Was a good friend to Michael, she knew. Her brother trusted Calum, and Ruby trusted Michael. Trusting Calum shouldn’t be too different.

If anyone could get shit done, it was Calum. He’d get justice for his friends. He’d keep her safe.

“Yes,” she finally answered, watched the subtle change in his expression, saw the slight surprised raising of his eyebrows. But she was confident in her answer. “I do.”

tags: @crownedbyluke @irwinkitten @glitterprincelu @softforcal @valentinelrh @hotmessmichael @meetashthere @astroashtonio @calumh-excess @hearts-to-the-sky @old-zeppelin-shirt @angelbbycal @captain-what-is-going-on @calumthoodsyonce @cathartichaoss @misskarynie @softboycal @soulmatecashton @babygirlcashton @cxddlyash @calumhoodless @roselukes @wrappedaroundcal @slimthicccal @kinglycalum @calumculture @ohhmuke @fucking5sos @heavenlyhemminqs @cosmixcalum @invisiblexcth @gettingjillywithit @calistheloml @cliffordcntrl @asht0ns-world @hereforlukescruff @ghostofch @ghostofhood @dxmncalum @bitchinbabylon @walkedhomealone @poppedpins @5secondssofssummer @calumsmermaid @booklove-2 @empathycth @checkeredcalum @lovelettercalum @kaxseychill @rosecoloredash @theagenderwhocriedwolf @cal-pal-cuddles @xhaileyreneex @paqueretteash @calteahood @biwriting @2k17muke @sublimehood @tupeloohoneyy @egyptiangoldhood @x-valntyne-x @bloodlinecal @raabiac @97britt @emma070900 @mmxiihood @monsteramongmikey @akacalciumhood @thebodaciouscth @5sos-stan4lyfe @lipstickstainfading @flannelpunkcalum @inlovehoodx @all-i-want-is2b-loved-by-you @grittyisathot @keeponfallling @lmao5sosimagines @isabella-mae13 @mysteriouslycali @maddiebee2019 

#calum hood #calum hood fic #calum fic #calum hood one shot #calum hood imagine #calum hood blurb #calum hood blurbs #calum hood imagines #calum hood fanfiction #5sos #5 seconds of summer #ashton irwin #michael clifford #luke hemmings #5sos fic #5sos fanfic #5sos one shot #5sos blurb #5sos blurbs #5sos imagine #5sos imagines #ashton irwin blurb #luke hemmings blurb #michael clifford blurb #ashton irwin one shot #luke hemmings one shot #michael clifford one shot #ashton irwin imagine #luke hemmings imagine #michael cliffford imagine

[alo-piss-trancy]

What Lurks in the Shadows (P/5 Omo Snippet #7)

((BIG BIG PLOT SPOILERS FOR P5 BELOW!!!!))

((This was going to be a 3 part omo whumpfest about Akira's time after captured by the police/Akechi. 1st chap would be his time in confinement w/Sae and then the car ride with her after escaping aka normal playthrough, 2nd was the Bad End w/Akechi which was going to be absolutely brutal, and THIS was Chapter 1.5 (took place directly after Sae's chapter which had 1 wetting. Makoto stays the night in leblanc to keep an eye on him since Sojiro and Sae can't. Akira is super fucked up from all the injected drugs, Tae's meds, and the trauma. Out of all my snippets this is the one I was most invested in and would love to finish if I ever had time/motivation.))

((Forgive the not-so-accurate injuries, I had planned to research and edit those to be more realistic/close to canon after the basic draft. Same with his paranoia it was gonna be more fleshed out.))

The haze of sleep had faded as he gradually became aware of the various signals coming from his body. His head was pounding... he wasn't sure how much was from the man's foot kicking into it when he'd first woken up in that cell, and how much was a side effect from the drugs still coursing through his veins. It was enough to make him feel nauseous, but the churning in his stomach was nothing compared to the sharp stinging every time he tried to breathe. His sides and back were killing him. 

Everything hurt… he just wanted to drift back off...

But there was one other thing he was aware of that would make that impossible. His bladder, heavy and aching badly enough that he had to squeeze his thighs together, huffing under his breath. Right. Normally he was fine during the night, but after what had happened earlier and all of the fluids he'd had to drink to combat the dehydration, he guessed it made sense that those muscles would be weaker than usual.

Licking his lips, he reached towards the nightstand, fumbling around for his glasses. His sides were screaming in response to the simple movement, but he finally managed to get his shaking fingers to grasp them. As soon as he put them on though, he swiftly wished he hadn't.

His vision was still bleary anyways from the sleepiness, but the slight bit of extra focus he gained made the darkness of his room seem much more threatening than it had been a few moments ago. It had been hazy before, but now he could make out sharp shadows and bulky figures, some of which he swore would move the moment he turned his head. He couldn't gain a clear image, but they were there, lurking in the edges of his vision, the briefest flashes of legs or arms, shined shoes, smug faces. Sharp teeth, inhuman masses, bloody necks without heads.

Shadows can't manifest here, can they?

Arsene. Arsene, can you hear me?

He couldn't sense the rush of unrestrained power, that rush of confidence and flair that let him know his Persona had come to the forefront of his mind. He couldn't feel anything but his heart beating faster, the tremble of his shoulders as he pulled his arms closer to his chest. 

Another flashing face out of the corner of his eyes and he was forced to clench them shut. How many of these things were there? Where were they coming from? Ow, sitting up like this really hurt... every inch of him hurt...

There's too much I'm trying to focus on... I can't think clearly enough to contact him…

Nibbling his lip as he squeezed his thighs together against his body's insistent nagging, he risked a glance towards the left side of the bed. Makoto was still lying there, sleeping peacefully. The sight was somehow both comforting and painfully lonely. Yes, it was nice to know someone else was here with him, but if they weren't actually awake to see the danger in the room...

But... she's always aware of things.  She's the one who triple-checked the door, and made sure both our phones were charging. If there was really an intruder here, she'd wake up immediately, right?

There's nothing here. There can't be. We're the only two things alive in here.

Those things that he was seeing... they must just be hallucinations. Terrifying, but not real. He fought monsters weekly anyways. He could handle a few spooky apparitions.

Taking a breath, he forced himself to look back at the rest of the room, his eyes straining to see what the strange forms and shadowed areas could be. Well, he knew some of the lumps by memory... the crafting table, and all of the junk on that one shelf...

I can feel my way through the rest.

But just as he started to work up the nerve to shift his legs, he caught sight of the door. The doorway, cloaked entirely in darkness, and leading the way down into a pitch-black café. The café everyone had been gathered in so shortly ago...

Someone could have seen Sae's car... And if Futaba had bugged the place once, surely the much more advanced resources the police had access to could do the same... They could have followed him here, and they could be waiting, right down there, and he'd come down and they'd pin him again, and he couldn't fight back, not like this, and they'd-

His breath quickening, he'd finally let himself lie back down, pulling the blanket over his head. He couldn't risk it, he couldn't go down there, not when there could be an ambush...

Just listen to yourself! You got away! You had that whole plan, and it worked, you know it worked! Makoto's here, Sae's on our side... you're safe here…

He knew he should trust logic. But... if there was the slightest chance that they could be here, that he could go through that hell again...

He could wake her, ask her to walk down with him...

But if he was right, then they might beat her, or drug her, or do something even worse, and he couldn't allow her to be put through that...

And if he was wrong, which was just as likely, then she'd just think he was wasting her time and being paranoid, and he was their leader, he was supposed to be confident and strong and totally not scared about the way their plan had gone, because if they knew he had doubts, they wouldn't focus, and then they might not be able to stop Shi-

I can't ask her. I can figure something out.

Well, he couldn't hold it until morning, and he definitely wasn't going to piss himself, so he'd just have to suck it up. Whatever was waiting down there, he'd just have to brave it. 

Just run down there, it'll take two minutes tops. You'll be back up here in no-time, and then you can go back to bed and sleep it all off.

He couldn't bring his legs or arms to move. They were just frozen in place, paralyzing fear running though his body. 

The pulses were getting stronger and stronger with every minute he stayed lying there, each steady throb forcing him to bite down on his lip harder, forcing his hand to squeeze his crotch tighter. He wanted to squirm around so badly, but he couldn't risk waking her. Squeezing his watery eyes shut, he rocked his hips a little, nearly rutting into his hand in a desperate effort to take the edge off. It wasn't helping, damn it, nothing was helping, it was just getting worse and worse...

It's just a room away, damn it! Just get up! All you have to do is get up!

He couldn't help moaning as another urgent spasm sent pain ramming through his abdomen, a slow trickle of warmth dripping out for a few seconds before it stopped, not enough to give him any relief at all. He was already in enough pain, and yet this hurt so badly...

Just slide off the fucking bed. The plant's right there, you don't even have to go downstairs. Just stand up and walk a few feet.

The dim noise of a dog barking outside assaulted his ears, and he clutched himself tighter, his crossed legs shaking as his bladder continued to spasm, waves of pain rolling through him as he fought to breathe quietly. He needed to go worse than he ever had in his life, and yet he was stuck laying on his side, panting into the pillow. He couldn't even work up the nerve to throw the covers back and sit up, knowing they were his only shield from everything else outside his protective bubble.

If I go out there, they're going to kill me... Akechi's going to be there with a gun, or they'll wrestle me to the ground and cuff me again first…

Another burst of warmth started streaming into his boxers, leaking through to wet his sweatpants. His face was blazing hot, sweat starting to drip along his skin, and he groaned, pressing his face harder into the pillow. He felt sick. It felt like the room was starting to spin, and he could barely find the strength to clench himself off before he leaked any more.

I can't piss myself again... I... I can't…

But I can't get up, not when they're right there…

It was too easy to hear the voices floating up from downstairs, those deep tones and firm orders, heartless, merciless. It was too easy to feel the sharp toe of a boot against his ribs, or the cold metal pressed against his head, the sting of more needles jabbing into his skin. He could taste the copper in his mouth, the warm heat bathing his tongue as he tried not to swallow mouthfuls of his own blood...

His entire abdomen was throbbing and pulsing, shudders running up and down his spine as he whimpered under his breath, squeezing as hard as he could against the burning in his crotch. The wet fabric rubbing against his skin kept teasing him, and little spurts kept slipping out to soak them further. 

Please... if I can just hold it until the sun comes up…

If he could just wait until Sojiro came in the morning... it would prove he was safe then...

A new jet shot out to flood his thighs with warmth, coming out so harshly that he had to bite down on his knuckles to muffle the gasp. When he breathed it caused the fabric to shift slightly, little dribbles of the liquid sliding around on his skin. He could feel every inch of his lower body throbbing, the stinging urge to release aching at the very edge of his member. Grinding against it wasn't doing anything to ease it anymore. If anything, it just made his need worse, forcing tiny leaks to drip out with the added pressure.

If I could at least slide off onto the floor, that'd be easier to-

Bang!

The click of a gun, aimed at his head as Akechi walked through the door, striding over to find him on the floor and helpless. 

The creatures were still flashing at the edges of his vision too, dancing around in the dark patches. One could easily be lurking under the bed, waiting to drag him under and rip him apart.

Another harsh burst started pouring into his pants, and he tightened the grip on his mouth, hoping to imprison the sob trying to escape. Sojiro was going to kill him for this.

I can't... I just can't...

No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't hold it anymore. It was gushing out now, heat drenching between his legs, his thighs, and pooling around his waist. The muffled hiss against fabric sounded way too loud in this room, and he squeezed shut teary eyes, praying nothing was attracted by the noise. It felt so good to go, but the relief only made him feel sicker, his stomach twisting into knots as he felt the blankets around him and the sheets below begin to soak into a pool. 

He was trying his best not to sniffle too loudly, nose running from the light smell that was trapped under the covers, but he felt the bed shift as what he dreaded most began to happen. Makoto was moving, starting to stir with a soft groan, and he was nowhere near finished.

Stop, please stop... please stop...

But no amount of shame was going to force his body to put itself in more pain just to spare his feelings, and he could only lay there in dull fear as urine kept gushing out of him.

"What... What time is it?" It was the softest of slurred voices, but he still flinched as Makoto sat up. She was probably rubbing at her eyes, but he wasn't about to risk making eye contact to check. No, he was keeping his eyes firmly closed, doing his best to try and shut out whatever visual horrors lurked around him.

"Why is... The bed feels..." His breath hitched despite his best efforts, fresh pain shooting through his chest, and that was enough to awaken her more fully. "Akira? Akira, are you crying?"

He didn't answer, trying his best to keep quiet even though it was impossible. His breathing was becoming more ragged as his nerves and the pain caused by them set in, and a few of those shameful tears were sliding down his face. He couldn't wipe them with both hands busy.

"Akira?"

((He's ashamed, but is still too panicked by everything else to be too upset about the actual wetting. She's very gentle when she comforts him, listens to why he couldn't leave. ))

((when she finally helps him move to sit in the floor, he's in agony from his injuries and still dizzy from the drugs.))

"You're wet..." She yanked her hand back from where she'd been touching him, squinting in vain as she tried to inspect her skin in the dim glow of moonlight. "You shouldn't be wet there."

"Sorry... it was kind of a lot, so..."

She shook her head quickly. "No, it can't have been that, it's too high up. Let me see your shirt." 

Before he could protest, she reached out to grasp the edges, tugging the cloth up until it was just below his armpits. He shuddered, both from the pain of having to keep his arms stretched up out of the way, and because of the chilly air hitting his skin.

"Akira, you're bleeding!" The moment her fingers stroked the bandaged area (light as her touch was) he flinched, gasping and gritting his teeth to try and trap a mewl of pain. 

"Oh, sorry, I'm so sorry! That's near where your ribs were broken... I'm going to have to change your bandages though, and get another look at that wound. I think all of your moving earlier pulled open the scab."

((takes him downstairs to clean up in the bathroom, washes him very carefully and avoids his privates. He hates that she has to see his injuries in full, but has no choice.))

((after he gets re-bandaged, she quietly suggests he wait in the booth while she fixes him a snack because he didn't eat earlier (he chooses to hide out in the bathroom instead, still paranoid about the door. She agrees to stay in there with him) ))

((At one point while they're downstairs, Morgana and him make brief eye contact through the shop window. Mona desperately wants to come in and comfort him, but Akira signals for him to stay outside like they originally planned. Mona knows the best way to help Akira is to stand guard seriously, even if his heart is being torn to pieces seeing what a wreck his best friend is...))

~~~

"I told you, I'm really not hungry..."

"Just some light broth, and a few noodles. I'll go fix it, stay in here and rest until I come get you."

((when she comes with his food and some light pain meds, he sees her eyes are bloodshot and puffy. She's been bawling in the kitchen, but forces herself to be calm for his sake.))

((they can't do laundry for the bed at 4am, so she fetches some clean blankets from the closet and they lay bundled up on the floor ))

((makoto tries to comfort him with sympathetic story of Kaneshiro's harassment and calls, when she was terrified he was going to break into her house and how she dealt with the paranoia to keep from breaking down since she couldn't tell anyone.))

((More angst fluff and both trying to hide their emotional anguish from each other as they fall asleep huddled on cold tile bc I am nothing if not a cruel bitch))

#omocute #omorashi #fandomo #fictomo #persomo #bearfic #again i'll edit with formatting in a sec! #but anyway this is the last snippet and it's my fav out of the batch tbh

[ghostofviperwrites]

Suzuki Gunz Crime Family - Chapter 3

Warnings:  Mentions of child abuse, child sexual abuse, do not read if sensitive to those topics; violence. Not graphic

July 7, 1997

It had taken two years.  Two years since Minoru Suzuki had taken over and rebranded the Suzuki Gunz Crime Family for his Kobun to be complete.   In those two years there had been attempts at usurping him from power, attempts from both within and outside his family.  Those attempts had failed in spectacularly bloody fashion.   Minoru had a flair for the dramatic and when he wanted to send a message he went big.  While they were still small and making their way up the hierarchy of crime families, the Gunz were no longer a laughingstock as they had been when word spread that a 17 year old was heading the family.  The naysayers had quickly and violently learned that this was no boy to be trifled with.   Minoru Suzuki made his mark.  His messages were delivered very loudly, very publicly and very dirtily.   Now whispers of fear accompanied the name Suzuki Gunz.  

Tonight was not a night of violence.  Tonight was a night of ceremony.   Tucked away in their secret meeting room in the bowels of Minoru’s family estate a very important induction was occurring.  Several inductions actually.  This would be the last of these ceremonies.  Tonight was also a night of finalities.  The final touches being added to Minoru’s trusted circle and the final night operations would be based out of this home. 

Kanemaru sat to his right, index finger tapping rhythmically against the marble table top as he idly listened to the conversation going on between Taichi and Iizuka.  Taichi sat to Minoru’s left with Iizua on his other side.   There had been a small disturbance with one of their pickups last night and the two were discussing an appropriate course of action.   Iizuka was serving as the voice of reason while Taichi was of the mind to paint the streets with the interloper’s blood.  

“It’s rather difficult for someone to spread a message if they’re dead Taichi,” Iizuka pointed out earning a shrug from Taichi.

“Let him live. Cut out his tongue,” Minoru spoke abruptly.  “He can write the fucking message.”  Kanemaru choked back his laugh, meeting Minoru’s amused eyes with his own.  The quadrant’s attention suddenly shifted to the door, the four men sitting up straight and settling into business mode as 14 year old Taka Michinoku entered the chambers. 

Minoru gave him a minute nod in greeting as Taka took the seat at Kanemaru’s right.  He carried himself well, which Minoru respected.  Barely any hint of his nerves shone through.   Minoru was sure many were going to think him crazy for bringing a child into his kobun.  He didn’t give a damn what they thought.  His men were in agreement with the move and that was the only approval that mattered to him.  Minoru had known from the moment he first saw Taka that he was destined to be his family.  Leaning back in his chair Minoru thought back to the night Taka Michinoku had come into their lives.

Flashback - December 13, 1995

As the coronation of the Suzuki Gunz Crime Family carried on in his family’s mansion, Minoru Suzuki disappeared into the night.  He had said what needed to be said.  There was no further need for his presence.  His kobun would remain at the party, circling and learning.  Tongues would be looser without the Boss in attendance. 

When he wanted to think Minoru walked.  It wasn’t uncommon for him to be found along the backroads surrounding the family estate wandering.  It was when he did his best planning.  When he felt the most clear-headed.   He was on an endorphin high, feeling energetic despite the fact he hadn’t slept the past two days.  Between overthrowing his father’s kobun and preparations for the coronation tonight sleep had been an afterthought.   This walk would calm his thoughts enough for him to find slumber.  Minoru’s steps slowed as he sensed a shift in the air.   Narrowing his eyes he scoured the surrounding landscape with his gaze, looking for the disturbance that had caught his attention.  Minoru wasn’t stupid.  He knew people wanted to kill him.   He would never let it be said that he was killed because he had not been aware of his surroundings.  

A small movement in the corner of his eye had Minoru stepping towards it, his hand already unsheathing his blade as he saw the corner of a tennis shoe peeking out from behind a large bush.  Assessing the situation Minoru stepped off the road and once again surveyed his surroundings noting nothing out of the ordinary apart from the bush.   Slowly circling around with his knife at the ready Minoru struck as he came up behind the intruder.  Knife immediately at the throat, Minoru pulled the small body against him with a hissed warning.  A frown formed on his face as Minoru realized he held no more than a child.  A tenacious child at that Minoru thought with a smirk which quickly turned to a wince as a sharp elbow landed in his ribs.   With a grunt Minoru pushed the kid away with a sharp rap upside the back of his head.  The kid barely made it two steps before he fell to the ground making Minoru frown.  He certainly hadn’t hit him hard enough to hurt him. 

Taking a hesitant step forward Minoru reached out to the boy rolling him onto his back making the kid scramble back looking up at him with defiant eyes.  Minoru’s protective instincts rose as he looked him over, sharp eyes noting new and faded bruises covering his face.  Fresh blood trickled from his lip and Minoru could only imagine the damage hidden by the ratty clothes the boy was wearing.  He was definitely malnourished, Minoru could tell that much upon quick perusal.  A familiar feeling fell over Minoru as he stared down at the kid.  It was the same sense of family he got from Kanemaru, Iizuka and Taichi.   Kneeling down so to present a less frightening figure Minoru made a big show of sheathing his knife and keeping his hands in plain view of the wary eyes that watched his every move.  Rage filled Minoru as he saw the pain the boy tried to hide as he pushed into a sitting position.  Someone had hurt this boy and they were going to pay.   

“What is your name kid?”  Minoru asked. 

“Taka.”  The kid responded sullenly. 

“My name is Minoru.  Where is your family Taka?”  Minoru inquired his fists clenching as terror entered the boy’s eyes and his head began shaking.

“Please don’t make me go back!”  Taka shouted uselessly trying to gather the strength to get to his feet and run.  “I’m sorry I bothered you. Please just let me go.  Don’t make me go back.”  

“I won’t make you go back.  Ever.”  Minoru vowed fiercely.  “You are safe with me.  Do you understand?”

Taka stared warily back at this stranger who had shown him more empathy in five minutes than he had ever experienced in his life.   He so desperately wanted to believe.  Hope wasn’t something he had experienced in his life. 

“I swear to you Taka.  On my life.  I will not let them take you back.”  Minoru said calmly rising to his feet.  “My home is just up the street.  Would you like to come with me?  You can get something to eat and clean up.” 

“Do I have to stay?” Taka asked trying to inject confidence in his tone.  To let this man know he wasn’t a pushover.  

“No Taka.  You will never have to do anything you don’t wish to.  If you want to stay, there is a place for you.   If you don’t.  You can go on your way.”  Minoru assured him.  

Taka stared back into Minoru’s face, scrutinizing everything he saw there as he thought through his decision.  His stomach was crying out for him to accept, willing to walk into danger in the hopes of getting food.  With a sign Taka nodded.   It wasn’t like anything worse than what he had been through was going to happen.  Besides, his instincts were usually spot on and they told Taka that he could trust this man with his life. 

At Taka’s nod Minoru carefully helped Taka to his feet taking stock of every wince the boy made and vowing to inflict ten times the pain on whoever had done this.  Letting Taka lean heavily on him the two some walked in silence down the backroads and through the basement entrance into the Minoru’s house.   It was a slow process, having to stop on multiple occasions for Taka to recover, every waylay increasing Minoru’s ire and desire for revenge.  Something about this boy, though only a few years younger than himself, had struck a chord in Minoru.  An almost fatherly protective instinct.  

Once in the house Minoru took him directly to quarters down the hall from his own and urged Taka to rest while Minoru found a suitable meal for him.   Heading to the kitchen Minoru ignored the staff bustling about in ongoing preparations for the party guests and went into the pantry.  Looking over the offerings Minoru got a selection of breads and crackers before moving to the fridge and grabbing sliced deli meats and some fruit.  When his knock received no response Minoru slowly pushed into the room, gently setting the tray on the end of the bed as he saw Taka had stripped off his clothes and burrowed under the blankets and fallen asleep. 

Hating to wake him, but knowing he needed sustenance Minoru softly shook Taka’s shoulders cursing himself when Taka screamed and jumped from the bed, rushing to the corner of the room and huddling his arms wrapping around his knees as he softly whimpered no repeatedly.   Tampering down the rage that wanted to consume Minoru breathed deeply to calm himself before slowly approaching Taka murmuring soft words as he knelt just out of arm’s reach hoping to give Taka the space he needed.  Slowly the whimpers died down and the tense hold on his knees relaxed, Taka raising his eyes and taking in his surroundings before he locked eyes with Minoru.   A sense of safety he hadn’t experienced before filled him making him release his legs and push to his feet.  It was only when fire rose to Minoru’s eyes as he examined his body that Taka remembered that he was unclothed. 

“Who did this to you?”  Minoru growled as he surveyed the extensive damage to Taka’s body.  Obvious cigarette burns peppered his flesh, old and new scars littering even the most sensitive of areas.  Minoru methodically categorized each and every bruise and mark on Taka’s skin making mental note to exact punishment for each one.   With gentle hands that belied the anger on his face Minoru turned Taka around to see his back, tears that would never fall sheening his eyes as he saw finger shaped bruises on Taka’s hips and dried blood between his buttocks.   “Tell me Taka.  Who did this?  I will make them pay.” 

Taka shook his head shame coursing through him knowing Minoru knew what had happened to him.  He refused to speak and Minoru wasn’t going to force him.  The poor kid had enough choices taken from him.  Minoru was not about to pile on to that. 

Stepping into the ensuite bathroom Minoru pulled down a thick plush robe that was hanging on the back of the door, ready for the next guest to stay and moved back to the bedroom wrapping it around Taka’s shoulders.  It was way too big on his small frame, practically swallowing him and dragging along the floor as he padded behind Minoru.  Scared it was going to be taken from him Taka slowly reached towards the crackers, eyes on Minoru in case he lashed out.  Grabbing a handful Taka backed away and greedily shoved several in his mouth almost choking as he tried to swallow.

“It’s yours Taka.” Minoru assured him gesturing towards the food.  “I’m not going to take it.”  Rising to his feet Minoru moved to the bedroom door deciding it was probably best to let Taka get acclimated on his own.   “Take your time and eat.  There are towels in the bathroom cabinet so you can clean up.  I’m going to look in my closet and see if there is anything you can fit.  I’ll leave what I find outside your door.”  He met Taka’s worried expression with a small smile.  “There’s a lock on the door.  You can use it.  Nobody will be coming in here without your permission.  I’m just down the hall if you need anything.  The phone on the nightstand has a line directly to my room.” 

Taka stood silently long after Minoru left, waiting for everything to come crashing down around him.  This was too good to be true.  Nobody did anything nice for him.  Not without extracting payment.   But his instincts were telling him that Minoru was family.  Real family. Not the assholes he called blood.   Moving back to the bed Taka winced as he sat, every movement reminding him of things he would rather forget.  Pushing aside those dark memories Taka slowly ate everything Minoru had brought savoring each bite like it may be his last.  He almost sagged in relief when he stepped into the hot shower.  He couldn’t remember ever having a warm shower.  Usually he was dunked in a cold shower when the felt he got too dirty.  Looking down he frowned watching the dirt mixed with blood swirling down the drain.  

Minoru managed to find him so clothes which Taka found outside the door, hurriedly grabbing them and locking the door again.  Yes he believed Minoru wasn’t going to hurt him to an extent, but he didn’t know who else was in this house.   Certainly Minoru couldn’t live here alone.  He only looked a few years older than Taka himself. 

Sliding on a pair of sweats Taka crawled back under the mountain of blankets he had created and circled in on himself as he fell into a fitful sleep. 

It was two weeks before Taka finally opened up to Minoru, finding solace in the older man’s calming presence.  For two weeks Minoru talked to Taka, not receiving much interaction, but keeping up a steady conversation as Taka listened with avid interest.  Minoru didn’t hold anything back, letting Taka know exactly the kind of man he was developing a kinship with.  He wasn’t going to lie.  Taka deserved to make an educated decision when the time came and he wouldn’t be able to with half-truths.   Minoru discussed Taka with his kobun.  They would meet him at the appropriate time and let Minoru know their opinion.  While Minoru believed he was going to be an integral part of his family, he would never make such a call without their approval. 

“Michinoku,” Taka said softly at the breakfast table with Minoru.  Looking up he saw Minoru’s questioning glance.  “My family name is Michinoku.  Riku is my father.  My mother died when I was a baby.   My brothers are Reo and Touma.  My father and my brothers are the ones who…”  Taka paused taking in a steadying breath.  “They are the ones who touched me and hurt me.”   He looked down at his plate, shuffling the nori around his plate as he waited for some type of reaction.  

“Himari!”  Minoru called to the housekeeper sharply.  “Call Kanemaru and tell him I need to see him.  Immediately.”  He ordered once she appeared.   Nothing more was said, Taka slowly eating his food as Minoru sipped his coffee and read his morning reports.  

“MiSu,” Taka startled at the amused voice behind him, shifting his body to keep an eye on the newcomer.   “You rang?” Taka watched with wide eyes as the two men hugged a rare genuine smile lighting up Minoru’s face as he greeted his friend. 

“Kanemaru, this is Taka Michinoku,” Minoru said gesturing to Taka who jumped to his feet bowed his head respectfully in greeting.  “None of that Taka.  Not here.  Not with us.”  Minoru stopped him, motioning for him to sit.  “Taka, this is one of my closest friends Yoshinobu Kanemaru.   He is my saiko komon.  He prefers to be called Kanemaru.” 

Kanemaru stared at Taka after acknowledging the introduction and Taka sat deathly still feeling like this inspection was vital to his future.   Finally Kanemaru broke his stare before nodding in approval to Minoru. 

“I see it.”  Kanemaru said, pulling out a chair and grabbing a piece of flatbread from Minoru’s plate.  

“I thought so.” Minoru nodded happy his friend seemed to see what he did.   “Now Taka has been slighted.  Greatly.  I wish you to bring me Riku, Reo and Touma Michnoku.” 

“You got it.”  Kanemaru agreed easily.  “When are Taichi and Iizuka going to meet him?” He nodded towards Taka. 

“Later today I will introduce them.”  Minoru said rising to his feet as Kanemaru pushed away from the table. 

“Looks like I have some hunting to do.” Kanemaru said with a smirk.  “Later Misu.  Later Taka.”  

Taka stared after Kanemaru with something akin to awe.  He just seemed so self-confident and assured.  Taka wished he had an iota of that confidence.  

“Why are you getting my father and brothers?”  Taka asked.  Minoru was pleased he didn’t seem scared or to think that Minoru was going to turn him over to them.  Even a week ago Minoru was relatively sure the response would have been panic.  

“To get you revenge Taka.  For every mark. For every time they touched you in ways they had no right to.”  Minoru said fixing Taka with his cold stare.  “We’re going to kill them.  But before that, we’re going to make them pay.”  

Japanese Translations:

Kobun – underlings/cabinet

Kumichō – Boss

Saiko komon – senior advisor – like consigliere in American mafia

#sgcf #Suzuki gunz crime family #Suzuki gunz imagine #Suzuki gunz fanfic #njpw fanfic #wrestling fanfic #mywriting #ghostofviperwrites

[shinidamachu]

The Moment I Knew

Summary: very married Inukag (and drunk Mirsan) reminiscing their teenagers-in-love days.

DAY FOUR! GIVE IT UP FOR DAY FOUR OF @inukag-week! The prompt is “affection”.

Word Count: 2456  Genre: I-Was-Feeling-Romantic.pdf  Fandom: InuYasha  Pairing: Inukag Format: oneshot  AO3 Link: 🌹  Fanfic.Net Link: 🌹

The night pulsated alive with the sound of their muffled giggles

Inside of the modest hut Miroku and Sango shared, the bottle of liquor emptied slowly and Kagome realized how much of an western caricature they were right then, drinking like teenagers in the parking lot of some american movie.

Except for her husband. His refusal to go anywhere near alcohol since the Master Of Potions incident remained strong after all these years, which the rest of the group agreed it was hilarious.

However, with Shippo snoring on her lap — after strongly claim he wasn’t sleepy at all — and the kids sleeping next room, it was actually a good idea to have a responsible, sober adult around. Specially since her cares were casted aside from the first sip.

“Okay, I have another one.” Kagome put her cup down and smiled devilishly to a cherry colored Sango.

“No, no, no!” She shook her head eagerly, but the amused expression never left her face. “Kagome-Chan, you said that was your last question!”

“Come on! This isn’t fair! I didn’t get to see you marry and I missed your children’s birth. I deserve this, at least.”

“Kagome-Sama, you can’t use this to get your way forever.” Miroku interfered, his enjoyment with her pleading statement way too evident while InuYasha muttered just fucking watch her under his breath. “Besides, I don’t think my wife could possibly get redder.” Sango nodded and took her cup to her lips.

“Please?” Kagome knew she had won when the demon slayer drank the content all at once, rolled her eyes and cleaned her mouth with the back of her hand.

“Fine!” The word came a bit groggy and followed by a smile. Kagome clasped her hands in excitement.

“When did you guys know you were in love?” The couple shared a long complicity look before Sango broke the mood.

“You first.”

“That’s easy!” The monk spoke with certainty, then grinned. “The first time I caressed her butt.” Before Kagome could protest, Sango hit him hard on the shoulder.

“Miroku!”

“You have three children, you know?” InuYasha commented, narrowing his eyes at their friend’s lecherous ways.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” He put his hands up in defense, then sighed. “I guess for me it would be... the time we spent on that lorde’s castle. Kuranosuke Takeda, was it?” Miroku looked at Sango for confirmation. As soon as he got it, he proceeded. “Well, he was in love with Sango and, as you recall, he asked her to marry him. Even though parting ways saddened me, I knew it was her best chance to have the life she deserved. It was at that moment, when I realized her happiness was more important to me than my own, that I knew I was in love.”

Kagome exhaled her content then addressed Sango, whose eyes still glittered with her husband’s reply.

“What about you, Sango-Chan?”

“The first time I caressed his butt.” Her answer caused Miroku to choke on his drink and not even Kagome was immune to the giggles that followed.

“Three children.” InuYasha reminded the couple.

After a short laugh, Sango paused and took a deep breath, then the words Mt Hakurei left her lips. Kagome would jump on her seat if it wasn’t for Shippo, still using her as a pillow. She always wondered what happened back in Mt Hakurei. InuYasha himself seemed to grow interested beside her.

“Really?” Miroku raised an eyebrow. “That long, huh?” The question earned him a cocky smile from the demon slayer.

“You were such a womanizer, there was no way I’d make it too easy for you.”

“That’s fair.”

“Enough teasing!” Kagome rushed them, her voice painted in childish enthusiasm. “What happened?”

“I got injured and he used the Kazana to keep me safe, even though there were Saimyosho around. We were surrounded by yokai and Miroku couldn’t move, so he told me to leave him behind.”

Sango shook her head as if to reinforce the idiocy of the idea, which Kagome could easily relate to — more than once InuYasha had put her on similar situation and she reacted with the same indignant disbelief.

“As if I ever would!” The pinch of exasperation was replaced to a much softer tone when Sango continued. “I knew I was in love because for a moment there I really believed I was gonna lose him and the thought of my life without him in it... it was one of the scariest things I have ever felt.”

Their answers weren’t what Kagome expected at all, especially for what was supposed to be a fun drinking night, but as she watched Miroku placing kisses on each of Sango’s hands, she didn’t regret asking it one bit.

“Not to brag, but I knew you guys would end up together from the start.” Just when Kagome thought they were too caught up in the moment to notice her smug comment, Sango turned to her.

“When did it happen for you?” Now she regretted it. Kagome should have seen this coming — because of course it was — and she owed them the same honesty they have been giving her all night. Besides, she had no problem with opening old scars.

It was with InuYasha she worried about.

“It’s not my happiest memory.” Kagome argued, but judging by the way InuYasha’s ears flattened, it was the wrong choice of words.

“Neither were ours. It’s only fair.” Miroku pointed out and Kagome bit her lips. He was right and she hated it. After a quick side glance towards InuYasha, her decision was made.

“I saw them together.” No explanations were asked, nor were they needed. “When he looked at me, I could tell he had made up his mind and I didn’t wanna hear it, so I ran home.” While her audience awaited, flashes of that day plagued into her mind — the absolute resilience on his eyes, the burning sensation on her lungs as she fled, the feeling of losing something irreplaceable escorting every step of her way. Kagome brushed them off the best she could. “I had no idea it could hurt that much, but… ultimately, my need to see him again, to be by his side, was stronger than anything else. Then I came back. You know the rest.” She finished with a shy shrug.

InuYasha opened his mouth but no words were able to come out, so Sango was the one to break the silence.

“I’m glad everything worked out.” She inclined towards Kagome to refill her cup.

“Me too.” Kagome let her head fall on InuYasha’s shoulder, happy to feel the tension he had been holding gradually melt with the contact. “I just wish it had been a little less upsetting.”

“Perhaps it’s an universal thing.” Miroku suggested. “All romantic realizations are fated to be painful.”

“Mine wasn’t.”

All eyes drastically fell on the half demon and he shrunk at the sudden attention, horrified to have spoken out loud what was supposed to remain an inner thought. Miroku, however, acted like his favorite show had just started.

“And when was that?”

“Just drop it.”

“Fine! Don’t tell us. We’ll just guess it.” Sango announced, with the confidence that was so inherent of her.

Kagome couldn’t help but feel torn. She knew InuYasha wasn’t one to talk about his feelings so openly and she wanted to respect his space. On the other hand, curiosity was killing her.

“I’m sure it was after that battle against Sesshoumaru, when we got our first real clue about Naraku. InuYasha was so worried about Kagome-Sama’s safety that he took the fragments away and trapped her on the other side of the well. I recall t-”

“He did what?” The second Sango shouted, a cry made its way through the room and a very confused Shippo jumped to consciousness. Her hands flew to her mouth when she remembered, a little too late, that she should have kept her voice down.

“I got it.” Was all Miroku said while he promptly rushed to his youngest.

“It’s okay, Shippo-Chan. Go back to sleep.” Kagome reassured the kitsune, who showed no sign of putting up a fight this time.

“Where the hell was I?” Now with a way more moderate tone, Sango remained puzzled.

“We hadn’t met yet.”

“It doesn’t matter. Miroku is wrong.”

“Right! Because it definitely happened at that time we almost died.” Her words made Kagome frown. Giving the impressive frequency in which someone or something tried to kill them, the possibilities were plentiful.

“Which one?”

“The one the three of us got poisoned.”

“Of course!” Miroku returned and if the lack of noise was any indication, the mission of tranquilizing their baby back to sleep was a success. “The way InuYasha cried as he held her... it has to be that one.”

“I didn’t cry.” He lied. “And you’re not even close.”

“How about that time back in my bedroom? You said such beautiful things and then we almost-”

“It was way earlier! Just how fucking dumb do you think I am?”

Kagome chuckled, amazed that after all these time — with a wedding in between, nothing less — the simple mention of that episode still puts a heavy tone of pink on his cheeks.

“Sorry. You don’t have to say anything, it’s alright.” And Kagome meant it, undoubtedly so. Which didn’t change the fact that she would always wonder about it, now that her curiosity had been stirred. “I just… it would be nice to know.”

Not wanting to give away how much it actually meant for her to know, Kagome put her hair behind her ear, hoping to come off as nonchalant as possible. She realized it didn’t work when a clawed finger lifted her chin to demand her focus.

“It was shortly after yours.” For the first time that night, she felt sober — as if his words had injected cold water into her veins, fresh attentiveness taking the place warm torpor once was. Still, Kagome looked at her husband without comprehend.

“W-what? How?” The more her mind played the phrase back, the less it made sense. She was there. It was years ago, but she remembered every second vividly. How could something like that went by unnoticed?

“I never thought I had a choice, I knew what I had to do. But I just couldn’t bring myself to let you go. At first I figured it was because I didn’t want to see that sad look on your face again. It was only when you came back that I understood the real reason.”

Suddenly, Kagome was taken back. She could almost feel the wind caressing her hair and hear the birds singing as she sat on the edge of the well waiting for him.

“I had finally summoned up the courage to go after you, but when I got to the Honekui no Ido, you were already there.” Kagome blinked, idly wondering if he was as lost on the memory as she was. “You asked me to stay, and to this day I can’t tell how relieved — or grateful — I was that you did.” InuYasha smiled. “Then you took my hand and in that moment I knew... that in the end of the day, I would always let you take me wherever you wanted.”

“InuYasha…” Nothing Kagome could say would do justice to the way she felt. Maybe it was the liquor, or maybe it was the way the gold on his eyes seemed to be liquefied, inviting her to drown in it, but she had never wanted to kiss him so desperately. Kagome leaned in slowly, delighted to notice his parted lips and held up breath.

Before she could go any further, though, Miroku cleared his throat and the spell was broken, tossing them back on reality, where they were not alone and to behave accordingly was probably a good idea.

“Keh.” InuYasha looked away and crossed his arms. “Now you know. Happy?”

“Yes!” Sango replied.

“Very much so.” Her husband agreed at the same time.

The rest of the night passed by in a blur. No matter how hard Kagome tried to focus on the present, her thoughts inevitably kept coming back to the things InuYasha said. It didn’t take long for her to caught herself remaking her footsteps on her mind, from the day they met to now, trying to fathom what other signs she had missed while absorbed on her own feelings.

Then they finally decided to call it a night.

“Shippo-Chan, wake up, we’re leaving.” The kitsune grumbled and turned about, but didn’t get up.

“Should’ve known the brat would make me carry his lazy ass all the way home.” InuYasha grunted. It was hard not to laugh of his facade. Shippo barely weighed anything, even if InuYasha hadn’t hanyou strength.

“InuYasha, why don’t you just leave him here? He is more than welcome to spend the night.” Miroku suggested.

“The twins love when he is here.” Sango added. Nevertheless, InuYasha declined their offer with a shake of his head.

“If he wakes up and Kagome is not there I’ll never hear the end of it.”

There was no counterpoint, no condescending comment, just silent understanding. From time to time she would get glimpses of the wounds her three years absence caused and it never ceased to break her heart a little.

Way more gentle than his previous tone suggested he would be, InuYasha picked Shippo off her lap, nesting him on his arm, and after an affable exchange of thank yous and goodnights with their hosts, they walked through the door.

A million questions still burned on her head. Why didn’t he tell her about his feelings then? Why didn’t she noticed? Wouldn’t have been better if they hadn’t wasted so many time? If they were then the people they are now?

Kagome knew the answers would remain a mystery, but as she contemplated her husband under the moonlight, starting to lead their way home, she realized it didn’t matter. Kagome would have gone through everything again, as many times as necessary, if she knew her life would become exactly what it is now.

InuYasha stopped a few steps later and turned, making Kagome note she has been wonderstruck in the same place when she should had followed him.

“Kagome, are you alright?” The genuine worry on his face got her nodding a emphatic yes until InuYasha got convinced. “Come on.” He held out his free hand.

Then you took my hand and in that moment I knew... that in the end of the day, I would always let you take me wherever you wanted.

And without thinking it twice, she took it.

A/N: yeah, you guessed right... Shippo is only on this so I can have some Inukag Parenting™ time and I regret nothing.

Anyway... I really had fun writing this! Do you guys agree with me or think they fell in love in some other moment?

#Inukag Week #InuYasha #Kagome Higurashi #Inukag #Inukag Fluff #Inukag Oneshot #Sango #Miroku #Mirsan #Shippo #Sid writes

[goodnessgatsby]

Nightmares Are My Wonderland

((Heavily based on the universe in the movie “Push” with undertones of the anime/manga/game corpse party and my hero academia. TRIGGER WARNING; DOMESTIC ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM IS HEAVILY IMPLIED WITH UNDERTONES OF SEXUAL ASSUALT AND MENTAL ABUSE))

((Looking for a partner to either ally with my villain and prime her to become something either truly evil or virtuous (meaning you can be a hero that saves her from a dark life if you’d like, I encourage this.) Or you can meet with her a decade after she’s become a villain, being more well-known and feared among the community and either ally her as a villain or fight her as a hero (meaning you would have to fight to defeat her as a hero, saving her soul would no longer be an option unless you’re creative) Please be very clear as to what you quirk is and how you use it))

((If you wish to play a Cannon character than this character is strictly made for a hero/villain environment as long as they belong to the comic book, manga, movie range then you are free to use them))

Sun glistens through the dark murky motel room as Valerie grips her long smooth locks, a soft tan to her skin despite living like a vampire most of her life, as her eyes flutter impatiently about the room. Dad didn't come home again, looks like he'll be home later today. Suddenly the neighbor and his weird cosplay girlfriend begin talking way too fucking loud for 6 a.m. before Valerie pinches the bridge of her nose, whining softly as the hangover settles over her small boxy frame "Fuuuuck! Shut Up!" she screams, throwing a pillow at the wall before sitting up at the edge of the bed. The walls are a dark smoke gray, with brown stains scattered about the room like carefully hung photos and a pitch colored trim between the concrete floor and ceiling “God, could we have picked a cheaper motel…” she huffs as if she hadn’t spent all her savings on a few months in this crappy place, it was easier than trying to find an apartment without a reliable source of income. At this point, she’d only been taking odd jobs in different towns with hopes of someday landing a job and settling down in a real home, but that was entirely impossible with her father’s drunken misdeeds in every town she had attempted to build a nest. Speaking of which, was it possible he sent her a text or tried to call her last night when she was drinking? Like Father, like daughter…Valerie stares at the bottle of 1800 Tequila Silver on the nightstand, it never tasted good but the feeling of floating was something worth chasing “I really ought to let him go drink himself to death far away from me…” but the truth is like the high liquor gives, she continues to chase what her father used to be…before…She dives for the bottle before the thought can bubble to the surface taking a massive swig, filling her mouth entirely before swallowing. She runs her fingers through the length of her hair as the liquor silences any chance of tears before she opens the app on her phone to check for any paying jobs. Please, something that pays more than 35 dollars!!! Browsing the list carefully her eyes flutter over something odd, but for 1,000 dollars…how could she pass this up? Imagine all the food, maybe even a motel upgrade…even for a few weeks would be better than breathing in mold for a day longer. The description reads ‘Social experiment; One-time visit required for payment. We are inviting 7 people to a night of fun and fright!(Each person will receive their own time and date to arrive, only one person will be selected to receive a permanent job and living quarters) You and 6 others will be suited up in gear that will analyze your vitals and brain functions while giving a boost in physical abilities so you can defend against ‘monsters’. This will require all 7 participants in different sessions to work alongside me to complete simulated courses, like a Virtual Reality Video Game! No Danger! No Risk! Just 23 hours of free food, socializing and a whole lot of exercise! Better message quickly or you’ll miss your chance!’ below was an email and phone number with the letters X.O.E signed below. Social experiment, huh? The young maiden smiles nervously at the idea of anything social, but quickly decides the money would clearly be worth it, although it could be a scam…on the off chance it is real “Suppose I just message them and see how it goes…”

Several Days Later; Monday

As the night of the experiment arrives, Valerie finds herself standing outside the most beautiful little house she’d ever seen in her 19-year life, it was white and plain colored with vines covered in tiny blossomed flowers scattered about its length and surrounded by a garden that must’ve come right out of a fairytale. Her brain wept at such beauty, unaware of the man hollowing out her soul with his eyes until the final time his eyes rushed over her, Valerie gasps gripping onto her sides with her arms across her abdomen

“Y-you must be Xavier Everts…” she blurts out, trying not to appear terrified to no avail “I...I’m Valerie Bonna-velt…I’m here for the…social…experiment…” she was beginning to wonder if there was such a thing, now that she stood in his unblinking presence. Had anyone messaged this man? “Excuse me…Could you please tell me what’s going on…I’m really confused” the man moves closer, and without a word takes her wrist dragging the trembling teen through the gate and into a poorly lit kitchen.  

The man’s frail old voice booms “Master Everts!” Valerie stares numbly at the floor, her brain rushing over every possible scenario in which she’d never see the light of day again. Suddenly a warm voice coos back, in the sweetest most soothing manner an anxiety-stricken woman could hope for “Ah yes, back here Ms. Bonna-velt, I’ve awaited your arrival” she eagerly grips onto the velvet sheets draped over the door frame replacing a door, pulling them apart as she stepped into a large open Victorian style living room. She grips her chest as her brows dip and pull together in rhythm with the melting of her soul, the walls were deep pitch with roses painted all over that were framed two-fourths of the way down with a light brown border. This appeared to have an almost red glaze deepening in opacity as it met the floor unlike the lusterless tan trim. This matched the drapes and couches perfectly; Valerie could not help but stand in awe as her honey colored eyes polished the place over. From the floral-patterned wood below her feet to the glowing candle chandelier above her head it was truly a picture taken right from her dreams. A soft chuckle ripples through the air before her eyes meet with the tall thin man with paper white skin and long raven colored hair

“I see you appreciate the beauty in times far before you and I, but I’m afraid we haven’t the time to give you a tour.” His apologetic smile, spreads energy through her body like a surge of electricity as she nods, rushing to close the distance between herself and the much taller employer

“It is alright, really I’m sure we could do that another time”

In response to this he laughs “Confident one, aren’t we?”

His features were strong and well pronounced, it was like talking to a portrait in an art museum only this one was responding. He explained the way that the suits would have small needles placed in various areas to properly study Valerie’s vitals and chemical balances in response to the simulations around her.  Truth be told she didn’t understand half of it, but the way his arms wrapped around her front and hands fumbled with the attachments kept her calm, unable to focus on the suspicious liquids behind each needle or the metallic scent coming from his clothing. The only thing on her mind was the way his lips would part for each breath as if breathing through his nose was not good enough, and the squinted glances he’d gift her with a calm cold grin

“My, you really enjoy being in my presence, don’t you?” Valerie felt her shoulders pull back as her spine straightened and she nodded softly, there was something…about this place, this man that felt too close to her heart…as if plucked right from her mind. She bites her lower lip, leaning into him to take in the rough metal odor as he roughly grips her waist with his right hand and slammed down onto a large orange button with his left

“I hope you continue to feel this way after your first trial.” His voice quickly escaping her mind as 5 needles inject strange liquids into various parts of her body simultaneously. Had her gut instinct been correct? Had no one else messaged this man? Did she sign up to be a lab rat? His fingers squeeze her skin roughly before releasing

“Don’t worry, it’s the power boost you were promised in the post, I hope you did not forget the terms of our agreement dear girl” all her muscles tense in response to the liquids.

This triggers the beginning of the first simulation titled “Of All the Things You Love” the words stretched across a beautiful Japanese garden, cherry blossoms swaying over the bold white words that slowly began to fade as Mr. Everts booms through the headphones covering her ears

“Now, you should be able to move normally about the world, you will need to find a clue in this world to escape. If you perform well enough, we will discuss having you over for the next trial. For now, all you need to know is your brain controls and develops this game as you play, I have zero control of what you see or what the clues are. I can only give you directions on where to find these clues, beyond that it will be up to you whether you escape or not.”

Valerie was stumped by this, her mind trying desperately to find a solution “My brain created this place? From a memory? Or a dream?” she thought, wrapping her arms around herself as always. Nothing felt different, her arms and legs were the same appendages she used every day. Truthfully it had appeared the only difference was a scenery and climate change. She takes in the warmth of the sun’s rays before he speaks again, somehow watching her stretch and twirl in the summer’s heat

“I see you prefer warmer climates, are you ready to begin?” his soft words felt as though they were placed there for a reason, as though they were meant to calm her uneasy state. “The clue is at the center of this garden, but beware, although your mind has created a calming environment that your cognizance can handle, there are still threats guarding each clue.” He sounded quite sure of himself, but the idea that her mind could have created something harmful in a place like this, it felt impossible. Nevertheless, Valerie forced herself forward deeper into the garden, trying to focus on the flowers, the sun and the warm floral smells that were fashioned by the two intertwining

“Are you sure there are fiends in this game? I know I watch a lot of horror movies, but it doesn’t seem like there could be anything like that… here…” even she sounded unsure of her conclusion, worried it was her brain trying to cope with the idea of treading unknown terrain. “What do I do if there is something trying to attack me anyway?” these seemed like questions she should have asked before starting the simulation, but it seemed she was purposefully placed in this place without knowledge of what was to come. This would force her to rely on the help of Mr. Everts or her own reflexes, making this far more challenging than she had first envisioned.

“Onee-chan!!!” A familiar tiny voice calls towards her from somewhere far ahead, followed by soft weak sobs “Onee-Chan!” the voice cries once again causing my feet to move towards it.

“This is such a bad idea, what if it isn’t really a little girl!” Valerie would scream at her body, but it continued to sprint towards a small terrified scream, until that scream had a face. Before her stood a little girl, not much older than 4 years old with soft black hair that framed her warm rosy skin “Hello there…little one…Do you need help?” Valerie whimpers, keeping her distance from this small child as the girl began to appear more and more familiar the longer, she stared.

“Onee-chan” Yuka cried, looking over her shoulder with the one side of her face that still had an eye, immediately being recognized by the Valerie as one of the victims in her favorite anime.

“No. No no no, this is impossible. You’re not real!” she cried, taking a step back from the child before it revealed its entire face. Blood dripping from the hollow socket that used to house Yuka’s eye as the ghoulish kid closed the distance between herself and Valerie. It was like lightspeed one second Yuka was staring at her and the next she was crying to be saved with tiny hands wrapped tightly around her throat.

“You have to fight, if you want to survive you must fight” Everts calls, reminding her this was merely a simulation. Valerie groans loudly, slamming her elbow into the child’s skull and with a loud crack the girl’s skull fragments spray about the smooth dirt path leading to the center. The corpse began to shrivel like a salted snail until there was nothing left of the falsified child. Needing to remind herself this was just a game, despite the years that torture scene had terrorized her memory.

“It’s Okay Bonna-velt, you can do this. You can do this! You need to breathe and remember your goal” this seemed to do the trick, as Valerie got to her feet once more and began on the path to the center of the world which appeared to have a large pine tree more massive than a skyscraper, the point nearly pierced the sky. “Looks as though my awareness was kind enough to give me a marker. Better return the favor and move swiftly” with this the young girl closed the distance between herself and the wooded forest housing her first clue. The wind whistled an alluring tune as she cautiously stepped into the shaded lot, each tree huddled closely together to deny the rays of sunlight any access while below was an unkept brush that slicked over towards the center, all signs pointed forward. What lied behind this damp cloaked brush? Valerie ties back her long brown hair in a loose poorly constructed bun before entering with a nervous whine, as she passed the threshold the world around her began to change. Although the foliage remained trees, the leaves had grown much larger and pronounced than pines with long limbs that stretched out to the similar trees surrounding it. The terrain matching that of a rainforest, with the sounds of life flooding the air.

“What did you do!?” Everts chimes suddenly, making her body jolt and tense. “How did you change your surroundings? None of the other subjects were able to change their environment without finding a clue” his tone sounded agitated, but for what reason? Had she done something wrong?

“I’m not sure, I just thought I was done with that world…Did I do something wrong?” her voice sounding so terribly unsure of her accidental decision to change the world, unaware that was even something she was able to do.

“No, my apologies. I was merely annoyed with myself for having my attention elsewhere…. You are a wonderful specimen Valerie. I’ve never found a human who’s suited my fancy so immensely, please continue” He chirped, suddenly she feels him grip her waist with both hands and squeeze roughly forcing a moan from her trembling lips. It was embarrassing, but he achieved his goal as she decided not to ask any more questions before getting closer to the first clue. All along her path we’re dried and torn snake skins that grew larger the closer she managed to get, as though there was a large snake that had been shedding in this area over the span of its life. This Idea alone was not enough to scare her, but thinking back she remembered one snake that made her skin crawl. Kaa from the jungle book, no beast should have the ability to manipulate living beings’ minds. A shiver ran up her spine

“Oh god Bonna-velt…tell me you didn’t do that to us…tell me you were thinking snakes on a plane or something harmless like that” but there was no undoing what had already been done, hissing suddenly filled the air.

HISSSSSSS

HISSSSSSSSS

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

She screamed, running forward frantically, unaware that she was headed towards the snake instead of away from it until her body slams against a large, thick and scaly body before falling onto her behind “No no no no! Close your eyes, close your eyes!” Valerie screams afraid of anything sentient invading her mind as her heels dig into the dirt in front of her, pushing her body away as quickly as her behind will scoot. Woefully she does not scoot fast enough, as soon she can feel that same meaty, scaly body slithering around her and crushing her ribs tighter and snugger by the minute. With her eyes closed the maiden begins shouting at the beast through constricted breaths “I’m not looking into your eyes! You’re not real! And You cannot control me!” it felt like her lungs would pop after this declaration, her eyes threatening to evacuate from her skull as a result of so much pressure. It was not only terrifying to see these characters come to life, but to witness them behaving so different than the characters they represented from shows, movies and books. Memory has a funny way of warping reality, although Yuka was no villain in her stunning debut the memories of her revolve around a nightmare that visited young Valerie from time to time. This made Yuka the perfect first trial according to her brain, and this brainwashing beast was no different.

“There is no need for you to fight me now. You’ve given me all I need” the beastress hisses, as her cold scaly body loosens its grip letting the young girl breathe for a moment. “Open those beautiful eyes, and see for yourself” Her eyes fluttering open to see the snake is no where near her body, and yet it felt as though the thick meaty body began to constrict around her again

“Gah! How are you-…you doing this?” she gasps, unable to breathe the tighter this invisible body squeezes around her small frame. What is going on?! Valerie stares at the serpent as it moves in from the brush

“Why would I waste my time crushing you, when you’ll do it for me?” Kaa smugly hisses towards her, leaving the young girl choking and confused before it eases up allowing her to breathe again “Why waste my time on something as helpless as you? Or Someone so selfish?” the sound of the viper’s harsh words makes each gasped breath that much more painful.

“SHUT UP! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!” Valerie cries out, feeling a sharp pinch in her left lung before erupting into a fit of coughs, blood oozing from her chest and out her mouth along with mucus from smoking habitually. Her eyes closed tightly as it pools all over directly below Valerie’s trembling body, it felt like lava was pouring from her lungs and out her throat

“Poor thing, it’s really eating you up inside isn’t it?” the serpent cackles, closing the distance between the young human and herself, quickly jerking the young girls chin upward with the end of it’s tail “You should have spoken out, before you could no longer speak at all”. Suddenly Valerie feels the large scaly body starting to coil around her again “Oh dear, I’d never imagined you’d make yourself suffer so much” The young girl spits the last bit of blood onto the floor before looking up at the temptress and yelling

“Don’t get so smug, thinking you’ve won!” the roar of her voice makes the snake stumble and the hypnosis break, knocking the terrified girl to the ground as her surroundings are returned to that garden from the beginning of the game. Kaa had control of her since the moment she stepped into the forest, warping her surroundings to toy with the scared girl. “What?! Why are we here? What did you do?!” these questions swirl around the thick cold air for seconds before Valerie launches at the small snake, gripping the back of its head and the third fourth of it’s body. ‘You have to kill it, it will take over your mind again if you don’t kill it’ her mind screams as she pulls the beast apart in once swift motion, spraying its blood all over herself and the surrounding trees as her knuckles clack together behind her.

“Mhhhm, what a good look for you.” He groans, finally releasing her hips from his hands, wait…Was He holding onto her this entire time? No, his hands started at her waist, now they’re on the sides of her hips. Has he been petting her this whole time?! A blush overcomes her face as an item within the world suddenly begins to glow “That is the clue for the next trial Ms. Bonna-velt…Take it and read its contents carefully, for it can only be deciphered by you.”

The small slab was glistening so brightly it’s shape could not be interpreted from this distance, and as the young adventuress closed the distance she had to use her arms to cover her eyes “I always wondered what the highlighted items looked like inside the game, but this is insane” she whimpered in regards to the blinding light emitting off the clay slab, as her hands gripped the bottom end it ceased  floating and glowing, resting in her tiny palms as a normal chiseled slab “What you’ve found is what you fear, but what you seek is gone my dear” the words flowing from her lips like unsteady breaths “What you’ve found is what you fear…Do they mean Yuka and Kaa? But what you seek is gone my dear? Gone? Like disappeared or like dead?” she puzzled over this for a moment before the words became clear. The young maiden held the slab tightly to her chest, it was all so clear. Yuka was mother, begging to be saved by a simple phone call to the police department and Kaa was the guilt crushing her insides for leaving her mother in the hands of her father, she had only wanted to get away from the fighting for a few hours, a day at most, but the family she’d left behind that day was no longer there upon her arrival. As tears rolled down her heated cheeks like water off a melting icicle, she hugged herself tightly and cried out “The Clue is Mother” before the device suddenly releases her from the simulation.

“Welcome back Young Bonna-velt…” Everts cooed, catching her body as gravity gave way to her tired limbs. Despite physically never moving, her body felt heavy and exhausted as though she’d been running marathons all night “Do not worry, the serum will heal all your aches by the morning. As well as reform some of your least performing organ systems to a new undamaged state.” Almost certain he meant her liver and lungs, but would not directly say these as to not pry too deep into her personal life. Suppose he’s seen too much already? Her eyes begin to grow heavy against his warm frame until the world around her fades into darkness.

The Morning of Mourning

The following morning, Valerie wakes to the dark dank hotel she’d left her unconscious father resting in, wait…How did she get here?! She rubs her temples, sitting up at the middle of the same lumpy mattress she’s slept on for nearly a month now. A sharp pain jolts up her spine, followed by the need to vomit with her head spinning like a dreidel as she plops back down across the mattress watching the small warped ceiling fan weakly wobble in a circle. “uhhh” she groans, this was like a hangover, morning sickness and fever chills had a baby leaving it in the young girl’s skull “Small price to pay for a healthy body, right?” wanting to believe that the strange man from the internet was telling her the truth. Should she see a doctor? A better question is…Does she have the money to visit a doctor? Oh right, the thousand dollars. Rolling onto her side, Valerie looks around both sides of the bed to see if her wallet was on the nightstand, but instead of the torn, leather wallet her mother had gifted Valerie…there was a wave of deep crimson covering the night stand, wall and right half of her bed. Her eyes widen ‘Mr. Everts no!’ her mind sobbed as she pushed herself onto her belly, kicking herself forward to find Victor Dean Bonna-velt with the upper half of his skull removed, as though whomever did this cut from the middle of the eye sockets around. She gagged, pushing herself upward in a rush to get away, but her palm slips on the blood covered wood slamming her body forward and into the corpse where her skull would bounce off the concrete a couple times with the weight of her body sliding her under the second bed with ease. The entire front half of her body smothered in hot, sticky blood as her breathing grows heavier “Someone, please help me…” she whispers, before fading out of consciousness

Hours later the young girl stirs from beneath her father’s bed, unaware of her surroundings beyond a foul smell and the suffocating, cramped space she finds herself crammed in.

Buzz Buzz,

Buzz Buzz,

Buzz Buzz!

Valerie’s phone erupts with life, vibrating on the nightstand closest to the door, she scrambles forward kicking at the guts behind her with loud disgusting squishing sounds as she squirms from under the bed’s grip. She whines softly, trying to rub the filth from her face as her eyes adjust to the darkness

“Dad? Can you get that!” she groans, wiping her hands on her shirt before rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The phone once again springs to life and danced about the nightstand, glossing over the bedroom with a bright blue light as Valerie is reminded of the scene that coated her in…blood…This is blood…A soft chuckle leaves her cowering lips as the phone erupts with a call, the letters X.O.E displayed in bold letters on the tiny screen, slowly she inches past the bed as she tries desperately to keep her from seeing her disemboweled parent again “Block it out Valerie, you have to stay focused, try to remember” she whispers softly. This seemed to ease her nerves as she answered the phone with a monotone “Hello.”

“MS. BONNA-VELT! My gracious dove, how are you this fine eve?” He booms, a cheery whimsy to his words as though he was utterly pleased to speak to the young girl once again. She takes a deep breath before trying to speak again, so much had happened, so much that she needed to know about the events leading up to…to…She swallows hard, holding herself loosely with one arm as the other helps her hand hold up the phone

“N-not very good Mr. Everts… I’m having trouble remembering…some things…” to this he responded with a deep sigh that melted into a groan, she could feel his smile fade with her words, but he had needed to know. “Please Mr. Everts, I don’t mean to annoy you, I had only hoped you’d fill in some gaps…” an insecurity to her tone, feeling the tension slowly start to dissolve before he replies again with a soft hearty laugh

“I see young girl; your brain must be suppressing some things in an attempt to protect you. Could I come get you from your motel and take you elsewhere to clear your mind? I’m sure the smell is getting to you” Somehow his words made it sound like he knew her father’s corpse was only feet away from her beginning to pucker and bloat. How long had she been out? How long had the body been there? It had to have been a few days for the smell and appearance to be this bad, right?

“Yes please, please come get me!” she cries, not wanting to think about how old the blood on her body was or how she’d come to be covered in it to begin with. Today was beginning to be much worse than she’d ever planned when suddenly there’s a knocking at the door

“Then come outside my love, daddy’s here” he hums through the phone, making her pause and stare at the door…He…He did this…Is he…Is he going to kill her too? “Don’t be shy my sweet flower, come say hello” he coos once more, trying to lure her from her nest, but Valerie is unable to move despite standing only a few feet from the unlocked door. She watches as the handle turns left all the way “Hello?! Are you alright?!” his tone drowning with worry as the handle twists all the way to the right “Say something” he once again cries, throwing the door open to the vision of his beautiful little girl, the fruit of his labor and the love of his life. Their eyes lock, making him visibly swoon “You look so beautiful all painted up for daddy” He closes the distance between them, taking hold of her sides as his thumbs softly rub her love-handles and he washes her over with his gaze once more “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more beautiful” he whispers before his lips press to her jawline, making her body tremble “Valerie, it’s okay. I stayed by your side for these last 4 days, but I didn’t want to scare you…I couldn’t be here when you woke, I’m so terribly sorry…” what had he meant by that? He’s been here with her? What had she done with him on those days and why could she not remember…?

“What are you talking about!” she screams, shoving him to the ground before plopping down onto the bed with an ugly sob “What would you have been doing here for the last four days if I wasn’t awake! Why are you doing this to me!” she wails, slamming her fists into her own stomach a few times “Or am I right to believe I was involved somehow?”

“Involved?” he repeats, as though the word is foreign to him before he erupts with laughter “Such a shame, we’ll have to fix that broken memory of yours right away” with this he pushed himself upward and onto his feet in one swift motion, who the hell is this dude? “But first, I will need you to listen little girl. Come here” he snips, curling his finger in towards himself to direct her.

‘Do I have a choice? What will happen if I don’t? And why didn’t he answer my question’ these were the thoughts that plagued her mind as she obediently hoisted herself upward to her feet and under the arm of the man that obviously murdered her father.

“Atta Girl” He chirps, walking her out the deep green door towards a short maroon 2004 Mercury Marauder with smoky gray leather seats and interior, upon closer inspection she finds the windshield cracked and the radio removed. He let go of her long enough to toss the door open and shove her into the vehicle, but rather than go around the car he scoots along the front of the seats to the driver’s side, pulling the passenger door closed behind him. He starts the car as his eyes lock with hers intently “Please smile little one, you’re going to remember everything soon” somehow, she knew this was meant to calm her, but those words had an effect neither of them could have predicted. As the car backs up, jolting her body forward she grips the car door and the dash as a flash of the days that lead to these events fills her head.

An image of Valerie covered with blood, wearing a crazed grin as a camera films “My, my, such a beautiful girl painted up for daddy…Do you enjoy this? Does it feel good when you remember how it feels to be happy? Such a gorgeous smile you have little one” the man behind it booms, that strange familiar voice. Who is that? It felt as though she was looking through a smudged lens at the world surrounding her “I will be the protector of your memories my love, never again will you feel isolated or trapped. Never again will I allow anything to harm you, my sweet dove. That sick bastard didn’t deserve a daughter as perfect as you, therefore I will take you myself. And through experimentation you will be reborn as my daughter” the camera moves as he draws closer to my face, Everts!!!! He cups her cheek softly, why does his voice sound so melodic right now compared to real life and what does this memory mean? Valerie snaps back to reality as suddenly as she had left it, staring down at the rubber mat place below her feet

“Where are we going?” she mumbles, feeling her palms and hairline begin to sweat “And how much longer? I’m…I’m tired…” a soft tremble to her words, showing that same insecurity that drew him towards her to begin with. He quickly takes her hand in his, resting the two on her thigh as he spoke

“Back to our nest my little dove, it will be quite a while I’m afraid. If you wish to sleep, you can lean on daddy. I promise you’ll be safe” he softly coos, something that once was so comforting felt like a death sentence

“That’s okay…I’ll be alright…daddy” the word felt like vomit leaving her mouth, nothing could be more revolting, but a smile rested comfortably on his face after she had knighted him with his self-proclaimed title “Could you tell me more about our nest?” she hums softly, looking out her window onto the horizon as she buckles herself in the seat more securely not wanting to look towards him.

“It’s out of state I’m afraid, so that beautiful home you wished to tour will be left to collect dust. I have many homes I’ve strategically purchased around the united states and a few in Italy, but we won’t be leaving the country anytime soon. It is in a small town just outside of Bozeman, Montana. It is a very beautiful place, you can see the mountains so that’s a plus, but there’s also a lot of eyes, it is a heavily populated town and for good reason. The home itself is rather cheery and wooden, far from the town for good reason and it overlooks a lake.” The way he spoke made him almost seem normal to her, like he felt panicked for being ‘put on the spot’ and was trying to push past the feeling. Why did he feel so eerie before? She leans closer to the window, feeling the vibration of the car rock her into a deep sleep with an uncertainty towards the days to come.

Sunlight pours in through the windows like an estuary the rays penetrated the glass with ease as it lacked any form of tinting, the light was blinding to sleep covered eyes making life just a little harder for the teen girl “Mhhh!” she groaned, stretching as she sat up off the lap of her captor, it felt so good to sleep after processing so much, but immediately she is reminded of her situation

“Did you sleep well my little dove?” He coos, eyes focused on the road as he awaits her response. It had taken a moment for her to realize, but Valerie remembered falling asleep on the door against the window…Although she had avoided it before her eyes locked on the face that she once found so charming

“Did you…move me?” Irritation tainted each syllable of this question as her eyes burned holes into his soul as she waited for him to confirm what she already knew; it was a way of telling herself she wasn’t crazy.

“Yes, you looked so uncomfortable away from daddy…” he pouted, pushing his lower lip out as though it would influence her response at all. Why did he need to move her onto his lap?! So close to his…Her face turns bright red as she looks away from him, no telling what he could have done to her whilst she slept. Valerie was known to be able to sleep through a hurricane, her mother used to have to carry her sleeping body to the shower and drench her just to get her to school on time because standing her up stopped working after she’d gotten used to it. “I’ve seen that look before; you needn’t worry… I would never taint your purity without permission. I may have my warts, but things of that nature don’t suit my fancy…” meaning he did want her, but is it possible he expects her to want him in time? Rubbing her eyes, the girl yawns softly

“Well good…I don’t think I’d handle something like that very well…” there was truth to her words, but the way she phrased it was incorrect. She was relieved to find out he was not a self-proclaimed rapist, but this brought another question to her attention. He has his warts, but not of that nature…What nature does suit his fancy? She’d hoped it was her paranoia telling her what he fancied was far worse, and turned to her captor sleepily “Just…don’t touch me when I’m sleeping” she huffs, why was this something that needed to be said? It felt like common sense to Valerie, but not all monsters are cut from the same tattered cloth. “How close are we?” her soft quaking voice whispered as the young girl pulled her knees towards her chest and wrapped her slightly muscular arms around them before resting her chin on her knees.

“Only a few miles now. Did you want to stop and get something to eat? Stretch? Use the Bathroom? You know…Normal Human Road-trip activities…”It was clear he felt a little less comfortable with her after being reprimanded “Suppose I can hardly remember what other humans do anymore” he nervously chuckles, slowing the car a bit as his eyes wash Valerie over “I know…I can be a bit much, but I only have your best intentions in mind. I hate to admit I’ve been insensitive…I had time to think on this whilst you slept. I was not sure, but it felt like you were scared of me yesterday…and well, you’ve confirmed that today… with your response to something I’d hoped to be a kind gesture, I will admit I have not had much interaction with other people since college.” He pauses and looks away from her, back to the road, returning to normal speed in one smooth motion. Taking a deep breath Xavier continues in an unsteady tone “What I am hoping to convey is that, I am no threat to you Valerie Amerai Bonna-velt. I may be terrible with social skills and it’s possible my attempts at affection are more…creepy…than…romantic.”

“But?” She hums, leaning back in her chair so her spine is straight as her eyes look expectantly at him. She’d only had him in her life for a few days and already she expected so much of him. Was she starting to care? “But you killed my father?” suddenly the car screeches to a halt skidding towards the side of the road before he turns to face Valerie; the nineteen-year-old Mongolian American whose forehead is resting on the dash thanks to such an abrupt stop.

“I am not the one who killed that man Valerie, you are” the words clap against her ear drums like a gunshot, echoing all the way down her spine as he gripped her wrists “I was hoping to show you the video…but you went and made me spoil the cinematic reveal” he giggles, sounding pleased with himself as Xavier jerks the young girl closer, he was in his late sixties despite not looking a day over twenty-two and much stronger than Valerie despite his nerdy weakling façade “I know this is a lot, and although I love to watch a mind deteriorate…” He pauses, dragging his tongue over his upper lip as though thinking about changing his mind “…I want you to ease into these memories…You had to know the truth, but sometimes these things can be easier if you don’t try to rush it and force my hand. You could have remembered on your own in a few weeks, days or hours, but I wanted to at least wait until you were able to isolate yourself in a room away from me.” What was that? Did his personality start to act up, but he brought it back down to a normal level? What is this guy’s deal? “Suppose now that you know it’s inside the car, I’ll have to ask you to be patience an-”

“That’s okay… I’d rather put off…knowing all the details for now…If what you say is true, then this is probably my last happy day…funny because yesterday was probably one of the worst days of my life…” Valerie forces a laugh, wanting to conceal the shattering pieces leftover from her crumbling sanity. “Food does sound nice…” she whimpers softly, wanting to sway the conversation elsewhere as quickly as possible, to this Xavier swoons letting out a deep hum towards her

“This is why I love you, you really get me” he lets go of her, turning to start the car back up with little trouble “We should learn to focus on the good and a full tummy sounds brilliant!” he coos, pulling away from the shoulder and back onto the highway “What sorts of foods suit your fancy?” he hums, using that phrase again

But things of that nature don’t suit my fancy

What sorts of foods suit your fancy?

“I prefer something salty or savory, sweet things don’t suit my fancy” She hums, being nonspecific as always “I will admit I am being vague because I don’t want to displease you, it’s such a pain to deal with going back and forth over and over….” Her father had a funny way of convincing her to pick whilst rejecting every option she chose until she suggested what he originally wanted to begin with. The entire mess was frustrating for Valerie, she could hardly imagine a person who could stand a situation like that, but she was never a girl of patience.

“Aw how cute, you used my favorite phrasing! Hmmm…Salty or Savory? What a shame you don’t like sweets, there are lots of bakeries on the map. Well what about pizza?” he chimes, trying to cover everything she’s said to him, to prove his willingness to listen “It’s only sweet depending on your toppings and cheese is normally pretty sodium heavy”

“Fantastic idea!” She booms, leaning against the door as she watches him juggle driver and navigating. Something about this struggle was amusing to her, it was in no where near the suffering she’d endured as well as apparently creating it. Her smug grin fades, what an odd thing to find amusing…

The Arrival; Life’s gift

The cabin was a warm sandy tan, the outside looking as though full logs were stacked on top of each other to form the walls despite having such large full windows and crystal doors that slide open like a window laying on it’s side. What a beautiful home! Valerie forces a sweet smile as she rushes to the entrance running her fingers over the smooth glass of the door as her eyes wash over the pitch steel borders that kept the crystal in place. On either side of the door are golden dragons carved into the light wood, she can hardly stop herself from running her fingers over the glistening design “How much does a place like go for anyway?” she slurs, her eyes bouncing from her new shelter to Xavier

“To be perfectly candid, I do not remember. It may have been a gift from one of my admirers or one of the homes purchased by my parents…The décor will most certainly remind me where this cabin came from.” He closes the distance between himself and the young girl before nudging her with his hip “Open the door for me, my sweet dove” the sounds of pleasure rippling in throughout his voice as he watched a shiver jolt up the young girl’s spine.

“What did I tell you? That makes me so uncomfortable…” Valerie groans, sliding the door open for the lengthy man as he stumbled inside holding several boxes and bags, he had clearly prepared for this trip. Had he known they’d need to flee Premont, Texas? She felt deep inside herself that those videos contained a truth beyond that of her father’s demise. Valerie rubs her arms softly before entering the home, inside was dozens of family photos, anchors, and sea shells as if the entire home had been decorated with an ocean side theme “So? Parents? Or lovers?” she calls into the house. Quickly she follows behind her voice deeper into the cabin, where her feet meet the animal skin rugs stacked on top of one another about the room, nearly covering all the cherry-wood that made up the floor. The room was small compared to the rest of the house, with a large “L” shaped couch in the center of the room with many colorful pillows with words like “Live, Laugh, Love” written in cursive “God it’s so cozy I can literally feel the sea of big fluffy blankets and fuzzy socks beginning to smother me” she calls, fake dying as her body plops onto the plush coffee sofa

“Oh, don’t complain, we won’t be staying here long.” He huffs, sitting down near the young maiden’s feet as he leans deep into the couch as a sigh of relief blooms from his pouty lips “You could have assisted me in moving our luggage”

“Assist my kidnapper in moving his luggage and my stolen stuff? Do you ever listen to yourself when you speak?” she snips back quickly, hearing the smile on his face as he sits up, hunching over as his elbows rest on his knees and his finger intertwine

“I hardly kidnapped you, you walked with me to the car with no resistance and you didn’t try to run at Luigi’s Haunted Pizza, so I could very easily disagree with you. The same as any jury would, evidence makes a case young Bonna-velt and I’m afraid the proof is not on your side” Valerie could not stand his smugness, although this was only the case because Xavier was exposing the truth, although her terror served as a mental block she’d shown no sign of trying to escape this man’s clutches. Why was that? Was it the information he had about the four nights escaping her memory? Or the fear of starting over fresh with an unfamiliar face? She’d spent so many years living with her father, with no friends or family members to lean on her father was truly all she had left in this world and the moment he was gone, she latched onto this parasite as though it was a host. “Are you ready for tonight’s examination?” he hums, looking her over with an intense gaze “There’s been no resurface of your abilities during our trip, this leads me to believe you have a specific trigger that allows you to use those gifts” did he mean the body enhancers he injected into me the first night we met?

“Not now…I want to nap first, it’s been a long day of really bad news…I really just want to sleep…” suddenly the couch depresses, like something is crawling over her body, she feels warm thighs pushing her knees into her stomach by raising her thighs. She looks up to see him pressing his manhood to her crotch as he leans over her small frame, beginning to kiss her neck and collar bone as his arm slides under the back of her left shoulder. He cups the nape of her neck, looking deep into her eyes with a burning desire

“Tell me you’ll let me hold you whilst you sleep?” He whimpers, resting his chin on the tops of her breasts “It would be an honor to protect you throughout the night” she felt there was more to this than what he gave away, but whether she wanted to or not he quickly flipped the two so his body was below her on the opposite side of the couch “Cuddle into me and christen me yours forever” these words were so intense, what had he wanted her to say? Gripping onto his shirt, she stares down at him like a deer in the headlights very obviously afraid of such a sudden advance towards her.

“I don’t think so…You really ought to go…” She whispers, climbing of his body with great struggle as he tries to hold her close to him, Valerie disliked this pressure and although she wanted so badly to be held until all her problems could melt into the sound of two hearts beating. “Goodnight Everts…” She hums, wandering off into the home to find a bed to sleep in, when the sound of a vhs tape playing floods the air as a light flickered through a cracked door at the end of the hall. Valerie held her breath as she heard her own voice whine “I don’t wanna do this, I wanna sleep!” it was very clearly her, but it sounded much more intoxicated than she was.

“Val? What are you doing?! Who is this guy?! Val?! VALERIE!”

Daddy! Her eyes swarm with tears as she runs to the room, knocking the door open with such great force that the metal door makes a depression where it met the wall as her eyes meet with a flickering light. When her eyes finally adjust to the monitor’s blinding blue light, Valerie recognizes herself standing next to a liquified blur of reds, pinks, browns and grays, what on earth is that? She leans into the screen trying to take a better look at blob when suddenly it solidifies reforming the man she called father gasping for air, suppose lungs don’t work in liquid form.

“Valerie…Valerie please”

Tears swell in the young girl’s eyes as she watches her father plead with a dead-eyed version of herself, the mindless woman one screen crouches down looking him deep into his eyes “Solid, Gaseous, Liquid…Let us see if we can do all at once” the girl whispers forcing his mouth open as her fingers glow a bright white, making the saliva in his mouth and throat a solid. As her father chokes, trying to pull the brittle saliva from his throat as the beastress cackles

“Such a beautiful girl, are you enjoying your new powers? Show me more, show daddy what you can do” a voice off camera cheers, as Valerie’s father looks at the man behind the voice with terror as the dead eyed Valerie grips his body at a couple different areas and with a flash of light she changes his body into a mess of liquids, colored gases and hardened flesh.

“Just like ice” the girl cries slamming her fist into the upper half of his skull, watching the ice-like matter shatter and scatter about the room like red shards of glass. Valerie looks away from the screen, unable to watch herself rage like a brat being denied of something it wants as she vomits into the hall “h-how could I do this?” she trembles through rough gags, the world around her beginning to twirl like a ballerina. You did it Valerie, you did it without hesitation and you put this on mom. “YOU MONSTER! HOW COULD YOU?” Valerie cries at herself, feeling the ground quake below her, as her brain swells with memories of abuse, years of mental and physical abuse. NO, IT’S NOT HIS FAULT! HE WAS TOO DRUNK TO UNDERSTAND! IT WAS NOT FAIR! NO! He did this! He did this to me… She slams her fists into the sides of her skull as tears stream down her face, why did he do this to her? What has she become? These feelings bring upon an unknown feeling that boils up inside her bringing forward the quirk named Matter Manipulation; the name is suddenly all she can think about, but where had it come from?

“Valerie! Valerie!” Xavier cries, rounding the corner as the world around him suddenly begins to mold and change “Valerie no!” He cries as his body freezes in place, standing frozen like stone as he stared into her eyes. His legs beginning to change color and collapse below him as the blood in his legs solidifies “Please! STOP IT VALERIE! PLEASE I LOVE YOU!” he sobs in terror, but his wails fall upon deaf ears as Valerie closes the distance between the two of them and grip his neck tightly turning it into a floating blur of flesh colored liquids. The sounds of the tape rewinding replacing a theme song, the vhs tape beginning once again as her hands grip his shoulders

“Wait Gorgeous! I have something to tell you, darling. That dress is so snug, it really suits my fancy” Xavier calls through the screen, putting more emphasis on his favorite phrase when it suddenly becomes clear to Valerie. She’d noticed every time he used that phrasing her brain became fuzzy and she felt more inclined to listen to him, it was clear he’d kept her under this state when the effects of his serum were most potent.

“Your ability…what is it?” she snips, reforming his throat to its solid form. He stumbles forward gripping onto her, his head spinning as she watches him gasp and choke on the very air he has been deprived of. How cute! Look at him struggle! A smile plays on her lips as she steps back watching him fall onto his hands and knees

“My sweet dove, please, I’ve done nothing to deserve this treatment and being tortured doesn’t suit my fancy” He whines, trying once again to strain her consciousness to no avail, she pushes her power hard against him once more watching him squirm in agony before gasping for air once again “Fine…It’s called Deception;  it’s the ability to change what a person feels or sees, I can only maintain this ability for 6 days and my strength over a person’s mind varies on the amount of trust I have between myself and that person….the less a person trusts me the harder it is to maintain the false reality… and your power is a chemical mixture of my own ability and several others….those samples were extracted through forcible autopsy…”Forcible autopsy? Does that mean he’s made a name for himself? He’d never been direct with her before, but she knew immediately this was the standard, a form of expectation for future acquaintances.  A smile spreads across her face as she grips his throat from behind pushing him deep into the wood as she twirls planting her behind onto the arch of his back before her palms glow sliding from his neck down his spine liquifying his essence

The Heroes’ Arrival; Save Me

Had either of them thought this through?! Had she even considered repercussions for her actions? Although she’d hardly had time to adapt to these new memories, there was no time to watch the puppeteer draw his last breath. She releases him from her hold, exposing herself for the monster she is as the thick black smoke that makes us her body is wavered by someone busting in the front door, the glass shattering and bouncing off various areas around the entrance.

“Doctor Everts” a strong woman’s voice calls, as the sound of footsteps advancing towards the pair fills the silence. Damn it! Unable to hold him and continuously restructure the liquid formation of his throat as her time limit was 30 seconds without contact, but luckily his throat would likely reform with some sort of mutation as she didn’t maintain it’s shape up until it’s reforming. She leaps up from his body, rushing for a window in the back room behind the stack of screens and vhs players, Valerie tosses the rack holding the monitors down onto the door jamming it shut. She pushes off the toppled metal rack she grips onto the windowsill pulling herself through the window and onto slick dew-covered grass that leads into a forest of some kind, pushing off the ground with her hands she takes off into full sprint, no sense in trying to save energy if she has no idea how to control this stupid ability! She tries snapping her fingers and focusing as she builds the distance between herself and the heroes who would never understand the ever-growing hollowness inside her, she’d become a murder, there was no other path for her.

((This is where the road forks, for those of you who wish to save this pitiful hate-birthed beast then this is where your character will enter as either a hero or villain, either way you must play an ally))

((For those of you who wish to have a more matured/seasoned villain you will continue from here and reply to the end of this post))

 A Decade to Fester; They Do Not Dare Defy Me

Many years have past since the day Matter Manipulation was gifted to young Valerie, a decade to be quite precise and as the temptress neared her thirties a broiling need to be acknowledged by the world grew in its wake. She’d wasted enough time training, scheming, and waiting for a day when the world would be forced to face pain beyond their feeble little dreams.

“Aqua Regia!” Darius booms, entering her chambers with a concerned expression rest on his glowing ocean eyes as they lock onto the voluptuous Valerie, he was her second in command and most trusted ally, the one who saved her from the cruelty of those who held the title of Heroes. Those who would brand her very soul with a bible of law; a law book sewn together by the suffering and consumption of it’s own people, written in the blood of every less than fair pigment or disobedient civilian by sadists and hypocrites. “Val, please we must speak of the mission to come. If either you or I were to misstep we would lose the very foundation of all that we have built, quickly dear girl we mustn’t waste time” with this he waved me towards the door as his soft poetic mannerisms lull her senses into a calm

“Yes, Of course, but please Avalon do not fret, you are the key to my throne and with you I will forge a Camelot that would put Tartarus to shame” Aqua Regia coos, slipping from her solid form into a smoke like cloud to enhance her speed as she moves towards the villain Elusion with the quirk Escape Artist or the ability to find an escape plan for any situation, the back lash is sometimes there really is no escape although he has yet to stumble upon this problem. Valerie is able to return to solid form by keeping hands, heart and lungs solid inside the smoke form otherwise her body would remain gaseous until reaching the limited amount of time. This time gap started at thirty seconds, but after nearly a decade of training she can hold most things in any of the three forms for a whole hour, sadly no human can hold their breath for an hour so the gift has become rather tricky to maneuver without sparing a few insignificant lives. As her body slowly reforms Darius takes this time to go over some of our earlier successes

“Indeed, Queen Arthur” He would start, wanting to begin on her good side “The first two steps of our plan have come to fruition with very minor mishaps, the pot has been stirred as you say. Drug Families are at each other’s throats trying to find the rat amongst them, unaware it was the clients who sold them to the pros. Secondly, all of the bombs went off without a hitch, except the last hospital apparently a hero arrived in time to stop both with seconds to spare.” His face remained calm and hard like a statue, he knew this would make her erupt furious that anyone was able to catch onto her scheme “But we’ve reached the results you hoped for Ms. Regia, the pros have all eyes on you for the show tonight.” Despite the second step having a few misfires everything was going according to plan.

“Well…At least things are still moving forward, are the boys reaching out to the head of each family as we speak?” She groans, clearly annoyed with the lack of security in her strategy, nothing is guaranteed and yet she’d hoped this would as close to guaranteed as physically possible. The two descend the stairs her warm honey eyes scan the crumbling lot for any sign of you, surely you knew she would be here awaiting your arrival, her lower lip presses out in a pout as she looks to her partner “Suppose they didn’t understand the clues that we left with each body?”

“Nonsense Mistress, you were very careful to be as obvious as possible” He assures her as she pauses, lingering at the window from the second floor. She was much taller now due to the various hormones and chemical injected into her body all those years ago, her hair was a long chocolate stream of shiny wavy locks and her once ashen tan skin soon became a warm mocha. Her once boxy frame had smoothed over into a more feminine look, being replaced with an hourglass figure. “Forgive my sentiment, but you’ve come too far Valerie to ever be made a fool of again.” Her heart sang at his sweet words, a smile resting comfortably on her lips.

“Thank you” she whispers, reaching for the illusion of her dear friend when the door flies off it’s hinges into the stairs. It would appear that they’ve arrived and so abruptly. Valerie growls under her breath, trying to maintain her composure as the hero/villain enters “I’m relieved you decided to show your face, this will feel all the sweeter” her palms glowing a golden color as she stands in an offensive position

((Comment Alpha1 if you want to save her as a child and change her fate as a hero or comment Alpha2 if you want to be a villain that assists her as a child. If you wanted to fight older Valerie as a hero comment Beta1 or if you want to be a villain that recruits older Valerie comment Beta2))

Name: Valerie Amerai Bonna-Velt

Villain name; Aqua Regia

Age: 19 or 29

Ability: Matter Manipulation; the ability to change and mold the shape/state of matter for limited amounts of time (Overuse of this ability results in a loss of free will; becoming an obedient zombie)

Appearance; Valerie is a 5’2 tall girl who weighs one-hundred-twenty-five pounds, she has a large behind and C cup breasts with warm thick thighs that meet at a waist that appears to be smaller due to wide hips and broad shoulders. When she was 19 her hair was a raven black, but now it resembles a dark chocolate brown with a healthy shine that she’s most definitely proud of! Her eyes are slanted, narrow and a light honey colored with short lashes that thick around the outer corner of her eyes on the top and bottom. Her eyebrows are thick and well groomed, but sparse with a very high arch. (Very bottom-heavy frame!)

Blood type: O negative

Height; 5’2

Weight; 125 lbs.

Weaknesses; Valerie’s powers cannot break the law of conservation (matter cannot be created or destroyed. Therefore, there must be the same number of atoms of each element on each side of a chemical equation.) She is also unable to hold an object in a state foreign to its nature for longer than her time limit (Starts at 30 seconds and ends with 1 hour) The heart, lungs and hands are exposed in gaseous form. Her circulatory system slowly shuts down in solid form and she runs the risk of losing limbs if she over uses it, not to mention solid form is as fragile as ice. Finally, in liquid form she cannot reform herself and must wait for the time limit to pass (She doesn’t really use it)

#@sweeetwilliams

[bellatrixobsessed1]

Mutilated Mannequin (Part 13)

After sifting through another day’s worth of school assignments, Azula stands up to stretch her arms and legs. She still feels faintly woozy. She hopes that the feeling will subside entirely by monday so that she can go back to school. She is growing tired of lazing around the house; the extra leisure time as her antsy and moody. 

Despite the stack of filled out worksheets and finished lit papers, she feels dreadfully unproductive. 

She opens her housecoat and pulls it around herself with more tightness before tying it up again. Once it is adjusted to her comfort, Azula makes her way onto the roof. It has been too long since she had looked at the stars, no wonder she is an agitated mess. 

She runs her fingers over the cool metal. The telescope is made of a lavish silver and along the edge, by the lenses, are intricate depictions of stars and planets etched in and filled with gold. Down the body of the telescope are more engravings, though unfilled with gold, they are just as striking to behold. They depict various constellations; Azula picks out Orion, Cassiopeia, Delphinius, and Aries. Her gaze lingers upon Ursa Major. 

For a moment, she wonders what her mother would have to say about the surgeries. She has a feeling that her face wouldn’t have been altered at all, not even the simple lip injections, were her mother still around. 

She wonders if her mother still works in the fashion industry. It puts an unexpected pang in her heart to recall that her mother had been the one to inspire TyLee to begin designing. Azula grasps the golden pendant that hangs around her neck and lets herself fall into the chair nearest to the telescope. 

She lets go of the pendant and the small golden tiger falls against her neck. She pulls her chair closer to the telescope. She doesn’t want to think about it; she is dreary enough without recalling the last time she’d seen her mother. The day at the airport when the woman gave her the necklace and wished her luck. 

She had been more affectionate and doting with Zuko. Her farewell much more tearful and with many more hugs. 

Azula supposes that she had always been distant with her mother anyhow. 

She gives her head a slight shake, trying to chase that train of thought away and tries to find Saturn. At last, its rings come into view. She observes the planet until her eyes water and she needs to draw back and wipe them. 

She wipes at them several times before realizing that her eyes aren’t watering because she’d been staring for too long. 

Her eyes are watery with repressed emotions. 

.oOo.

Azula doesn’t understand why she is so hesitant to look in the mirror, she knows that her face has only seen improvement. Even still, it is daunting. She shoves her hesitance to the side and inspects her face. It suddenly seems silly to have feared at all when her face comes into view. Residual swelling aside, she looks much better. Her face looks more balanced in a way, and she understands why the rhinoplasty and mentoplasy are recommended together. Somehow she feels more complete. She looks older, flatteringly so. Almost anyhow, she lightly brushes her cheek. She is one operation away from the perfection she craves and has been fighting for. 

She steps away from the mirror and finishes her morning rituals. Breakfast, shower, uniform, it is second nature. She drapes the strap of her shoulder bag across her chest and slides into the family limo. 

“Are you fucking kidding me.” Zuko throws his phone to the floor and runs his hands through his hair looking entirely exasperated. His head snaps towards Azula, “when you see Yue, tell her that she’s a real bitch…”

“I’ll be sure to deliver the message.” Azula replies. 

“She’s unbearable, she’s…” Zuko falls short. He stares at her with his mouth slightly agape. 

“What? Do you want me to make that face too?” 

“N-nothing, nevermind.” 

.oOo.

Azula pushes a strand of hair behind her ear and scribbles down a few notes. She can hear the whispers and she has a feeling that they speak of her. They are too hushed for her to gauge the opinions nestled within.

“By now you should have finished our first reading assignment. I would like someone to summarize the last chapter.” Kyoshi says. “Did anyone actually finish the reading?” Azula can see her scoping out the person who is trying harder than anyone else to meet her stern stare. 

Azula raises her hand. 

“Yes, Azula.”

To the best of her ability, Azula details the happenings of the last few chapters of the assigned reading. She has to let the woman know that her week off hasn’t set her back any. The woman’s scowl only deepens, “Azula has missed an entire week of class, why is it that she knows what we’ve talked about better than the rest of you?”

Azula’s stomach lurches at the glares sent in her direction. She looks to the only person who doesn’t seem to be angry with her. Mai stares straight ahead with her arms folded over her chest. TyLee looks as though Kyoshi has attacked her personally and Azula feels a jab of guilt. 

When the bell rings, she hustles to put away her textbook and notebooks and catch up with the two of them. 

“Tylee?”

The girl turns her head. 

“I don’t think so.” Mai hisses, she pushes TyLee along. As she sweeps the girl into the crowd, Azula catches, “she hasn’t even apologized to you, TyLee.” 

Azula props herself up against her locker, lacking the energy to actually open it. She gives a resigned sigh and stares blankly at the herd of students shuffling to their next classes. “Hey.” She jolts at the voice. Forcing herself to open her locker, she mutters, “good morning, Jet.” 

“The surgeries are going well, I see.” 

“I’m not in the mood, Jet.”

“I’m serious!” Jet declares. “I think the new look works well for you.” 

She allows herself a small smile. “Thank you, that is the goal.” 

“Did it hurt?”

“It was more uncomfortable than anything.” Azula shrugs. She motions for him to follow her to her next class. 

“How many operations do you have left?” 

“Just one.” Azula replies. “But I might go in for a couple more if I find anything else that needs...adjusting.” They reach the gym and Jet nods. “It is a little aggravating to have to sit on the sidelines though.” Jet cocks his head. “I’m not supposed to overexert myself for another week or so.” She shrugs. 

“That’s alright, you can just watch me. I’m sure that I can make the sidelines worthwhile.” He winks and flexes his biceps. 

Azula gives a humored sniff. “I’m sure that you can.” He gives her a thumbs up and retreats into the locker room. She makes her way into the gym and hands Kyoshi her doctor’s note. Weeks into the semester and it is still mind-boggling to have Kyoshi for two classes in a row. Heaven knows that she doesn’t hear enough, “if I can make it here on time, so can all of you” whenever TyLee waltzes in late. 

“Sit with the rest of your classmates for the warmup stretches. If those are also too much for you, you can sit those out as well.”

Intended or not, Azula hates how weak it makes her sound. At least she has some drive to make it through the stretches. At least she has something to do aside from sitting off to the side, wasting time.

“I know that I shouldn’t be talking to you. Chan will whine like a bitch if he catches me.” Ruon declares, plopping down next to her. “But I’m a curious man.” 

Azula quirks a brow.

“Jet said that the surgery went well.” He elaborates. 

“I would say so.” Azula agrees. 

“Come on, turn your head.”

Azula rolls her eyes and tilts her head back and to the side so that he can observe her face. Ruon rubs his chin. “Yeah, that is pretty hot.” He muses. “Shit, if Chan wasn’t gonna be such a dick about it, I’d ask you out.” 

“I’ll talk to him.” Azula replies. 

“I don’t know how he could deny a face like that.”

Azula laughs, thankful for the small confidence boost. “True.” She watches Ruon wander off to join Chan. She decides that she will approach him after she finishes her stretches. But as soon as she does, Kyoshi calls for them to begin picking teams. She makes her way to the bleachers, deciding that it will be ultimately better to approach him at lunch. She will have an hour of math to prepare dialogue and work away her nervousness.

.oOo.

Unpacking her lunch, she is well aware that the jitters have not subsided. If anything, she only feels that much more queasy. She feels the table shift and looks up. “Yue.” She greets nonchalantly.

“Tell your brother that he’s such a big ass that mine looks small in comparison.” 

Azula sniggers. “I’ll be sure to tell him…” She pauses. “I’m pretty sure that he asked me to tell you…”

“Whatever it is, just give him one of these for me.” She lifts her middle finger. 

“So…” Azula starts, “what do you think?”

“Of what?” 

Azula makes a waving gesture at her face. 

“It’s fake as hell.” Yue replies all too quickly and with a shrug. “But all of that work definitely looks nice.”

Azula rolls her eyes, she suppose that, that is as close as it gets to a compliment with Yue. 

“It suits you.” Chan says as he takes a seat. She begins to thank him, but he speaks over her, “your face is as fake as the rest of you.” 

“Everything else is natural.” 

“I’m not talking about your body. I’m talking about your personality and every friendship that you’ve ever formed.” 

“That’s not true.” 

“It isn’t?” Mai asks. “What pricy apology gift were you planning on buying for TyLee?” Azula draws in a sharp breath and peers at TyLee. The girl averts her gaze and stares glumly at her sandwich.  “You were much more pleasant before you got those surgeries…” 

“At least there was a time when I was pleasant, that’s more than you can say.” Azula mutters.

She catches a flicker of a sneer, a fleeting flash of anger in Mai’s eyes. It only lasts a second before her face goes wholly impassive once more. “It doesn’t even look that good.” 

The whole table falls silent. Conversation doesn’t resume for the rest of the hour, not with her and not with each other. She supposes that she will have to find someone else to sit with. Zuko and Ruon are her go to choices but they don’t share the same lunch hour as she. The bell rings and she watches everyone else leave. She lingers behind, even after everyone else has left. Mostly everyone; Katara and Suki finish off their conversation and then depart. 

She swears that Katara has looked at her once or twice. But then again, she might just be over-thinking things. 

“Can I talk to you?” Katara asks. 

But she isn’t in the mood to speak with anyone. Much less Sokka’s sister.

Sokka’s sister. 

Sokka.

The elections. 

Azula tenses up and hurries to her locker. She tosses her textbooks into it haphazardly--relative to her usual tidiness--and rushes to the auditorium. She takes a moment to catch her breath and run her fingers through her hairline. How the hell had she forgotten about the elections? She hasn’t even prepared a speech. She rubs her face with her hands as Sokka steps up to the podium. 

“You’re late.” Long Feng remarks. 

“I’m perfectly on time.”

“You were supposed to speak first.” Long Feng counters. “You are late.” 

Thoroughly exhausted, she concedes, “fine, I’m late. Whatever. I’m here now.” She has a sneaking suspicion that it doesn’t matter anyways. His promises of new sporting equipment and ‘actually exciting’ field trips had been winning over the student body from the start. Truth be told, she never had a clue what to promise her classmates, there has always been a disconnect between she and them. She can spin all of the pretty political jargon that she wants, they don’t respond to logos. And Sokka has her heavily beat as far as pathos goes. Even her ethos had declined rapidly.

Truth be told, deep down, she knew all along that the election was a waste of her time. 

Still, she hadn’t expected a unanimous decision. 

Not even TyLee had voted in her favor. Yue, refusing to vote for the “class dumbass”, opted to leave her ballot blank and boasted as much. Much too late, it dawns upon her that Chan had been right all along. Her social decline had, and still has, nothing to do with her face and everything to do with her mess of a personality.  

The crowd cheers and claps for their new president, but all Azula can hear is her father berating her. 

She doesn’t go home that night. 

She sits in the outdoor bleachers and watches Chan and his team toss a football around. She is a silent and unnoticed spectator. When the sky beings to blacken, she wanders across the lawn to where the astronomy club is setting up. 

“You’re here early.” Pathik remarks.

“Yeah.” Azula shrugs. 

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes. I’m fine. Just disappointed about the class elections.” She half lies. 

“You’ve missed a week of school.” He notes. “Oh, oh dear.” He fumbles with the telescope. “Can you help me with this?” 

“Maybe you should put some of that stuff down.” She replies as she helps him position the telescope. 

“Right, yes.” He sets down an armful of star maps and science books.

“I’ve been in the hospital. It isn’t a big deal.” She stares into the telescope and makes some adjustments. “There. It’s all set.” 

Pathik gives it a look for himself. “Perfect! Thanks to you we’ll have some extra time today!”

His enthusiasm is almost comforting. At least she is still good for something. She finds herself a seat in the grass, she wraps her arms around her knees and stares upwards. Katara is the second person to arrive, followed by Yue. Azula rolls her eyes, the girl is really going out of her way to pester her rival this year. 

“Yo, Principal P! When do I get to look at the moon?”

“Whenever you learn to work a telescope.” She hears Katara mutter. 

Her gaze follows Pathik as he paces about. “Now where did I put my pen…”

“Did you check your beard, that’s where it was the last time.” She recognizes his voice from the first club meeting. If she remembers right, he calls himself Sneers. 

“Ah! Yes!” Pathik digs into is absurdly fluffy beard and pulls out his pen. “First things first, I’d like to remind everyone to apply for their chance to for the trip to the NIR&Ex, it could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. And don’t forget about the Lake Laogai University scholarship opportunity. If you show promise in this club and in Agni High’s astronomy classes, you can earn a full ride.” He gives a few giddy claps. “I can think of two contenders already.” His gaze shifts between she and Katara. “Before we get to the telescopes, I’d like to announce that the town of Agni is hosting its annual comet viewing festival. If you have all been paying attention in class, you already know that you all are alive during a very special time. Would someone like to let the rest of the club know why that is?”

He scans the lot of them. “Ah, yes, Katara.” He points his pen at her. “Please explain.” 

“We have the chance to watch Sozin’s Comet as it passes.” 

“Correct!” He claps his hands once more. He turns to Azula, “it must be particularly exciting to know that you will see the comet that your great grandfather is named for.” 

Azula nods, “quite.” 

“The Kasai family has helped the astronomy community profoundly and, with luck and determination, I believe that the family will continue to make contributions. Am I correct.” He gives Azula a wink. 

“I do hope so.” She replies. 

“Yes, yes. Where was I? Oh, right, the festival. The festival will take place in mid December, instead of our regular meeting, we will be attending it. If you’d like to bring a guest, please fill out this form,” he holds up a stack of papers, “before you leave.” 

“Ugg, if I hear one more thing about this comet…” Yue rolls her eyes. “Who cares about the comet, the moon is what really matters.”

“Of course the moon is what really matters.” Katara agrees. “But don’t you realize what the comet means?”

“That Azula gets to brag about her family’s legacy more than usual?”

“Ha. Ha.” Azula folds her arms. 

“Oh! I know! It means that you get to geek out more than usual.” Yue guesses. “I guess making a fool of yourself at homecoming wasn’t enough humiliation for you.” 

Katara’s face flushes. “Y-you know what. I don’t even know why I try with you. You’re so...so…” She storms over to one of the available telescopes as Yue collapses into a round of girlish giggles. The sound is grating to Azula’s ears. 

Azula finds a telescope of her own, but for the first time she can’t seem to focus on the sky. She was going to take Chan to the festival as a first date. Or at the very least, bring Mai and TyLee along for a girl’s day. 

Now.

Now she isn’t sure that she is up for attending at all. 

It isn’t like she hasn’t wasted an opportunity before.

She helps Pathik and the rest of the club pack their equipment away for the week. “Hey.” Azula turns around. 

“Are you okay?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

“Because, you don’t seem happy.”

“Whether or not I am is none of your business.” 

Katara lifts her hands, “just trying to help.” She begins to walk away.

“Wait.” Azula mumbles, it is just like the first time. Katara turns around again but she doesn’t know what to say. “Nevermind.” 

Katara sighs. “Why are you doing it if it makes you miserable?”

Her brows crease, “doing what?”

“Getting the surgeries?”

“That’s not why I’m unhappy.” But it is, isn’t it? At the very least it is a critical part of it. All at once, the surgeries are the only thing keeping her uplifted. She is wholly conflicted, trapped in a sort of paradox. In some regards she feels more confident. For once, despite her utter loneliness, she feels beautiful. Like she has a chance to make friends. But the very thing that grants her this confidence, takes it away. She feels fake.

Fake and shallow. 

She realizes that Katara is waiting for her to elaborate. She doesn’t know how.

“You don’t have to keep getting them, you know.” She waits for a reaction that doesn’t come. “You look fine. You looked fine before.” 

Azula bites the inside of her cheek. 

“I tried to bleach my skin once.” Katara confesses. “I thought that Jet would leave me alone if I were lighter. I’m glad that I had Sokka and Suki and Toph...and so many people to tell me that I didn’t have to do it.” 

“Jet will find any reason to go after you.”

Katara nods, “I figured that out.” She crosses her arms. “You don’t need to have any more work done. I guess that I just wanted you to know that, even if you don’t like me very much.”

Azula opens her mouth as a car pulls up.

“That’s my ride. I’ll see you in gym class.” 

Azula wanders away from the parking lot as her family’s limo pulls up. She knows that she is only making things worse by avoiding him. All the same, she doesn’t think that she can handle her father tonight. 

She spends her night laying on the park bench, staring up at the stars.

#Avatar #Azula #Mai #TyLee #Katara #Zuko #Sokka #Toph #Suki #Aang #Fanfiction

[therhythminwriting-blog]

Nightmares Are My Wonderland

((Heavily based on the universe in the movie “Push” with undertones of the anime/manga/game corpse party and my hero academia. TRIGGER WARNING; DOMESTIC ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM IS HEAVILY IMPLIED WITH UNDERTONES OF SEXUAL ASSUALT AND MENTAL ABUSE))

((Looking for a partner to either ally with my villain and prime her to become something either truly evil or virtuous (meaning you can be a hero that saves her from a dark life if you’d like, I encourage this.) Or you can meet with her a decade after she’s become a villain, being more well-known and feared among the community and either ally her as a villain or fight her as a hero (meaning you would have to fight to defeat her as a hero, saving her soul would no longer be an option unless you’re creative) Please be very clear as to what you quirk is and how you use it))

((If you wish to play a Cannon character than this character is strictly made for a hero/villain environment as long as they belong to the comic book, manga, movie range then you are free to use them))

Sun glistens through the dark murky motel room as Valerie grips her long smooth locks, a soft tan to her skin despite living like a vampire most of her life, as her eyes flutter impatiently about the room. Dad didn't come home again, looks like he'll be home later today. Suddenly the neighbor and his weird cosplay girlfriend begin talking way too fucking loud for 6 a.m. before Valerie pinches the bridge of her nose, whining softly as the hangover settles over her small boxy frame "Fuuuuck! Shut Up!" she screams, throwing a pillow at the wall before sitting up at the edge of the bed. The walls are a dark smoke gray, with brown stains scattered about the room like carefully hung photos and a pitch colored trim between the concrete floor and ceiling “God, could we have picked a cheaper motel…” she huffs as if she hadn’t spent all her savings on a few months in this crappy place, it was easier than trying to find an apartment without a reliable source of income. At this point, she’d only been taking odd jobs in different towns with hopes of someday landing a job and settling down in a real home, but that was entirely impossible with her father’s drunken misdeeds in every town she had attempted to build a nest. Speaking of which, was it possible he sent her a text or tried to call her last night when she was drinking? Like Father, like daughter…Valerie stares at the bottle of 1800 Tequila Silver on the nightstand, it never tasted good but the feeling of floating was something worth chasing “I really ought to let him go drink himself to death far away from me…” but the truth is like the high liquor gives, she continues to chase what her father used to be…before…She dives for the bottle before the thought can bubble to the surface taking a massive swig, filling her mouth entirely before swallowing. She runs her fingers through the length of her hair as the liquor silences any chance of tears before she opens the app on her phone to check for any paying jobs. Please, something that pays more than 35 dollars!!! Browsing the list carefully her eyes flutter over something odd, but for 1,000 dollars…how could she pass this up? Imagine all the food, maybe even a motel upgrade…even for a few weeks would be better than breathing in mold for a day longer. The description reads ‘Social experiment; One-time visit required for payment. We are inviting 7 people to a night of fun and fright!(Each person will receive their own time and date to arrive, only one person will be selected to receive a permanent job and living quarters) You and 6 others will be suited up in gear that will analyze your vitals and brain functions while giving a boost in physical abilities so you can defend against ‘monsters’. This will require all 7 participants in different sessions to work alongside me to complete simulated courses, like a Virtual Reality Video Game! No Danger! No Risk! Just 23 hours of free food, socializing and a whole lot of exercise! Better message quickly or you’ll miss your chance!’ below was an email and phone number with the letters X.O.E signed below. Social experiment, huh? The young maiden smiles nervously at the idea of anything social, but quickly decides the money would clearly be worth it, although it could be a scam…on the off chance it is real “Suppose I just message them and see how it goes…”

Several Days Later; Monday

As the night of the experiment arrives, Valerie finds herself standing outside the most beautiful little house she’d ever seen in her 19-year life, it was white and plain colored with vines covered in tiny blossomed flowers scattered about its length and surrounded by a garden that must’ve come right out of a fairytale. Her brain wept at such beauty, unaware of the man hollowing out her soul with his eyes until the final time his eyes rushed over her, Valerie gasps gripping onto her sides with her arms across her abdomen

“Y-you must be Xavier Everts…” she blurts out, trying not to appear terrified to no avail “I...I’m Valerie Bonna-velt…I’m here for the…social…experiment…” she was beginning to wonder if there was such a thing, now that she stood in his unblinking presence. Had anyone messaged this man? “Excuse me…Could you please tell me what’s going on…I’m really confused” the man moves closer, and without a word takes her wrist dragging the trembling teen through the gate and into a poorly lit kitchen.  

The man’s frail old voice booms “Master Everts!” Valerie stares numbly at the floor, her brain rushing over every possible scenario in which she’d never see the light of day again. Suddenly a warm voice coos back, in the sweetest most soothing manner an anxiety-stricken woman could hope for “Ah yes, back here Ms. Bonna-velt, I’ve awaited your arrival” she eagerly grips onto the velvet sheets draped over the door frame replacing a door, pulling them apart as she stepped into a large open Victorian style living room. She grips her chest as her brows dip and pull together in rhythm with the melting of her soul, the walls were deep pitch with roses painted all over that were framed two-fourths of the way down with a light brown border. This appeared to have an almost red glaze deepening in opacity as it met the floor unlike the lusterless tan trim. This matched the drapes and couches perfectly; Valerie could not help but stand in awe as her honey colored eyes polished the place over. From the floral-patterned wood below her feet to the glowing candle chandelier above her head it was truly a picture taken right from her dreams. A soft chuckle ripples through the air before her eyes meet with the tall thin man with paper white skin and long raven colored hair

“I see you appreciate the beauty in times far before you and I, but I’m afraid we haven’t the time to give you a tour.” His apologetic smile, spreads energy through her body like a surge of electricity as she nods, rushing to close the distance between herself and the much taller employer

“It is alright, really I’m sure we could do that another time”

In response to this he laughs “Confident one, aren’t we?”

His features were strong and well pronounced, it was like talking to a portrait in an art museum only this one was responding. He explained the way that the suits would have small needles placed in various areas to properly study Valerie’s vitals and chemical balances in response to the simulations around her.  Truth be told she didn’t understand half of it, but the way his arms wrapped around her front and hands fumbled with the attachments kept her calm, unable to focus on the suspicious liquids behind each needle or the metallic scent coming from his clothing. The only thing on her mind was the way his lips would part for each breath as if breathing through his nose was not good enough, and the squinted glances he’d gift her with a calm cold grin

“My, you really enjoy being in my presence, don’t you?” Valerie felt her shoulders pull back as her spine straightened and she nodded softly, there was something…about this place, this man that felt too close to her heart…as if plucked right from her mind. She bites her lower lip, leaning into him to take in the rough metal odor as he roughly grips her waist with his right hand and slammed down onto a large orange button with his left

“I hope you continue to feel this way after your first trial.” His voice quickly escaping her mind as 5 needles inject strange liquids into various parts of her body simultaneously. Had her gut instinct been correct? Had no one else messaged this man? Did she sign up to be a lab rat? His fingers squeeze her skin roughly before releasing

“Don’t worry, it’s the power boost you were promised in the post, I hope you did not forget the terms of our agreement dear girl” all her muscles tense in response to the liquids.

This triggers the beginning of the first simulation titled “Of All the Things You Love” the words stretched across a beautiful Japanese garden, cherry blossoms swaying over the bold white words that slowly began to fade as Mr. Everts booms through the headphones covering her ears

“Now, you should be able to move normally about the world, you will need to find a clue in this world to escape. If you perform well enough, we will discuss having you over for the next trial. For now, all you need to know is your brain controls and develops this game as you play, I have zero control of what you see or what the clues are. I can only give you directions on where to find these clues, beyond that it will be up to you whether you escape or not.”

Valerie was stumped by this, her mind trying desperately to find a solution “My brain created this place? From a memory? Or a dream?” she thought, wrapping her arms around herself as always. Nothing felt different, her arms and legs were the same appendages she used every day. Truthfully it had appeared the only difference was a scenery and climate change. She takes in the warmth of the sun’s rays before he speaks again, somehow watching her stretch and twirl in the summer’s heat

“I see you prefer warmer climates, are you ready to begin?” his soft words felt as though they were placed there for a reason, as though they were meant to calm her uneasy state. “The clue is at the center of this garden, but beware, although your mind has created a calming environment that your cognizance can handle, there are still threats guarding each clue.” He sounded quite sure of himself, but the idea that her mind could have created something harmful in a place like this, it felt impossible. Nevertheless, Valerie forced herself forward deeper into the garden, trying to focus on the flowers, the sun and the warm floral smells that were fashioned by the two intertwining

“Are you sure there are fiends in this game? I know I watch a lot of horror movies, but it doesn’t seem like there could be anything like that… here…” even she sounded unsure of her conclusion, worried it was her brain trying to cope with the idea of treading unknown terrain. “What do I do if there is something trying to attack me anyway?” these seemed like questions she should have asked before starting the simulation, but it seemed she was purposefully placed in this place without knowledge of what was to come. This would force her to rely on the help of Mr. Everts or her own reflexes, making this far more challenging than she had first envisioned.

“Onee-chan!!!” A familiar tiny voice calls towards her from somewhere far ahead, followed by soft weak sobs “Onee-Chan!” the voice cries once again causing my feet to move towards it.

“This is such a bad idea, what if it isn’t really a little girl!” Valerie would scream at her body, but it continued to sprint towards a small terrified scream, until that scream had a face. Before her stood a little girl, not much older than 4 years old with soft black hair that framed her warm rosy skin “Hello there…little one…Do you need help?” Valerie whimpers, keeping her distance from this small child as the girl began to appear more and more familiar the longer, she stared.

“Onee-chan” Yuka cried, looking over her shoulder with the one side of her face that still had an eye, immediately being recognized by the Valerie as one of the victims in her favorite anime.

“No. No no no, this is impossible. You’re not real!” she cried, taking a step back from the child before it revealed its entire face. Blood dripping from the hollow socket that used to house Yuka’s eye as the ghoulish kid closed the distance between herself and Valerie. It was like lightspeed one second Yuka was staring at her and the next she was crying to be saved with tiny hands wrapped tightly around her throat.

“You have to fight, if you want to survive you must fight” Everts calls, reminding her this was merely a simulation. Valerie groans loudly, slamming her elbow into the child’s skull and with a loud crack the girl’s skull fragments spray about the smooth dirt path leading to the center. The corpse began to shrivel like a salted snail until there was nothing left of the falsified child. Needing to remind herself this was just a game, despite the years that torture scene had terrorized her memory.

“It’s Okay Bonna-velt, you can do this. You can do this! You need to breathe and remember your goal” this seemed to do the trick, as Valerie got to her feet once more and began on the path to the center of the world which appeared to have a large pine tree more massive than a skyscraper, the point nearly pierced the sky. “Looks as though my awareness was kind enough to give me a marker. Better return the favor and move swiftly” with this the young girl closed the distance between herself and the wooded forest housing her first clue. The wind whistled an alluring tune as she cautiously stepped into the shaded lot, each tree huddled closely together to deny the rays of sunlight any access while below was an unkept brush that slicked over towards the center, all signs pointed forward. What lied behind this damp cloaked brush? Valerie ties back her long brown hair in a loose poorly constructed bun before entering with a nervous whine, as she passed the threshold the world around her began to change. Although the foliage remained trees, the leaves had grown much larger and pronounced than pines with long limbs that stretched out to the similar trees surrounding it. The terrain matching that of a rainforest, with the sounds of life flooding the air.

“What did you do!?” Everts chimes suddenly, making her body jolt and tense. “How did you change your surroundings? None of the other subjects were able to change their environment without finding a clue” his tone sounded agitated, but for what reason? Had she done something wrong?

“I’m not sure, I just thought I was done with that world…Did I do something wrong?” her voice sounding so terribly unsure of her accidental decision to change the world, unaware that was even something she was able to do.

“No, my apologies. I was merely annoyed with myself for having my attention elsewhere…. You are a wonderful specimen Valerie. I’ve never found a human who’s suited my fancy so immensely, please continue” He chirped, suddenly she feels him grip her waist with both hands and squeeze roughly forcing a moan from her trembling lips. It was embarrassing, but he achieved his goal as she decided not to ask any more questions before getting closer to the first clue. All along her path we’re dried and torn snake skins that grew larger the closer she managed to get, as though there was a large snake that had been shedding in this area over the span of its life. This Idea alone was not enough to scare her, but thinking back she remembered one snake that made her skin crawl. Kaa from the jungle book, no beast should have the ability to manipulate living beings’ minds. A shiver ran up her spine

“Oh god Bonna-velt…tell me you didn’t do that to us…tell me you were thinking snakes on a plane or something harmless like that” but there was no undoing what had already been done, hissing suddenly filled the air.

HISSSSSSS

HISSSSSSSSS

HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

She screamed, running forward frantically, unaware that she was headed towards the snake instead of away from it until her body slams against a large, thick and scaly body before falling onto her behind “No no no no! Close your eyes, close your eyes!” Valerie screams afraid of anything sentient invading her mind as her heels dig into the dirt in front of her, pushing her body away as quickly as her behind will scoot. Woefully she does not scoot fast enough, as soon she can feel that same meaty, scaly body slithering around her and crushing her ribs tighter and snugger by the minute. With her eyes closed the maiden begins shouting at the beast through constricted breaths “I’m not looking into your eyes! You’re not real! And You cannot control me!” it felt like her lungs would pop after this declaration, her eyes threatening to evacuate from her skull as a result of so much pressure. It was not only terrifying to see these characters come to life, but to witness them behaving so different than the characters they represented from shows, movies and books. Memory has a funny way of warping reality, although Yuka was no villain in her stunning debut the memories of her revolve around a nightmare that visited young Valerie from time to time. This made Yuka the perfect first trial according to her brain, and this brainwashing beast was no different.

“There is no need for you to fight me now. You’ve given me all I need” the beastress hisses, as her cold scaly body loosens its grip letting the young girl breathe for a moment. “Open those beautiful eyes, and see for yourself” Her eyes fluttering open to see the snake is no where near her body, and yet it felt as though the thick meaty body began to constrict around her again

“Gah! How are you-…you doing this?” she gasps, unable to breathe the tighter this invisible body squeezes around her small frame. What is going on?! Valerie stares at the serpent as it moves in from the brush

“Why would I waste my time crushing you, when you’ll do it for me?” Kaa smugly hisses towards her, leaving the young girl choking and confused before it eases up allowing her to breathe again “Why waste my time on something as helpless as you? Or Someone so selfish?” the sound of the viper’s harsh words makes each gasped breath that much more painful.

“SHUT UP! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!” Valerie cries out, feeling a sharp pinch in her left lung before erupting into a fit of coughs, blood oozing from her chest and out her mouth along with mucus from smoking habitually. Her eyes closed tightly as it pools all over directly below Valerie’s trembling body, it felt like lava was pouring from her lungs and out her throat

“Poor thing, it’s really eating you up inside isn’t it?” the serpent cackles, closing the distance between the young human and herself, quickly jerking the young girls chin upward with the end of it’s tail “You should have spoken out, before you could no longer speak at all”. Suddenly Valerie feels the large scaly body starting to coil around her again “Oh dear, I’d never imagined you’d make yourself suffer so much” The young girl spits the last bit of blood onto the floor before looking up at the temptress and yelling

“Don’t get so smug, thinking you’ve won!” the roar of her voice makes the snake stumble and the hypnosis break, knocking the terrified girl to the ground as her surroundings are returned to that garden from the beginning of the game. Kaa had control of her since the moment she stepped into the forest, warping her surroundings to toy with the scared girl. “What?! Why are we here? What did you do?!” these questions swirl around the thick cold air for seconds before Valerie launches at the small snake, gripping the back of its head and the third fourth of it’s body. ‘You have to kill it, it will take over your mind again if you don’t kill it’ her mind screams as she pulls the beast apart in once swift motion, spraying its blood all over herself and the surrounding trees as her knuckles clack together behind her.

“Mhhhm, what a good look for you.” He groans, finally releasing her hips from his hands, wait…Was He holding onto her this entire time? No, his hands started at her waist, now they’re on the sides of her hips. Has he been petting her this whole time?! A blush overcomes her face as an item within the world suddenly begins to glow “That is the clue for the next trial Ms. Bonna-velt…Take it and read its contents carefully, for it can only be deciphered by you.”

The small slab was glistening so brightly it’s shape could not be interpreted from this distance, and as the young adventuress closed the distance she had to use her arms to cover her eyes “I always wondered what the highlighted items looked like inside the game, but this is insane” she whimpered in regards to the blinding light emitting off the clay slab, as her hands gripped the bottom end it ceased  floating and glowing, resting in her tiny palms as a normal chiseled slab “What you’ve found is what you fear, but what you seek is gone my dear” the words flowing from her lips like unsteady breaths “What you’ve found is what you fear…Do they mean Yuka and Kaa? But what you seek is gone my dear? Gone? Like disappeared or like dead?” she puzzled over this for a moment before the words became clear. The young maiden held the slab tightly to her chest, it was all so clear. Yuka was mother, begging to be saved by a simple phone call to the police department and Kaa was the guilt crushing her insides for leaving her mother in the hands of her father, she had only wanted to get away from the fighting for a few hours, a day at most, but the family she’d left behind that day was no longer there upon her arrival. As tears rolled down her heated cheeks like water off a melting icicle, she hugged herself tightly and cried out “The Clue is Mother” before the device suddenly releases her from the simulation.

“Welcome back Young Bonna-velt…” Everts cooed, catching her body as gravity gave way to her tired limbs. Despite physically never moving, her body felt heavy and exhausted as though she’d been running marathons all night “Do not worry, the serum will heal all your aches by the morning. As well as reform some of your least performing organ systems to a new undamaged state.” Almost certain he meant her liver and lungs, but would not directly say these as to not pry too deep into her personal life. Suppose he’s seen too much already? Her eyes begin to grow heavy against his warm frame until the world around her fades into darkness.

The Morning of Mourning

The following morning, Valerie wakes to the dark dank hotel she’d left her unconscious father resting in, wait…How did she get here?! She rubs her temples, sitting up at the middle of the same lumpy mattress she’s slept on for nearly a month now. A sharp pain jolts up her spine, followed by the need to vomit with her head spinning like a dreidel as she plops back down across the mattress watching the small warped ceiling fan weakly wobble in a circle. “uhhh” she groans, this was like a hangover, morning sickness and fever chills had a baby leaving it in the young girl’s skull “Small price to pay for a healthy body, right?” wanting to believe that the strange man from the internet was telling her the truth. Should she see a doctor? A better question is…Does she have the money to visit a doctor? Oh right, the thousand dollars. Rolling onto her side, Valerie looks around both sides of the bed to see if her wallet was on the nightstand, but instead of the torn, leather wallet her mother had gifted Valerie…there was a wave of deep crimson covering the night stand, wall and right half of her bed. Her eyes widen ‘Mr. Everts no!’ her mind sobbed as she pushed herself onto her belly, kicking herself forward to find Victor Dean Bonna-velt with the upper half of his skull removed, as though whomever did this cut from the middle of the eye sockets around. She gagged, pushing herself upward in a rush to get away, but her palm slips on the blood covered wood slamming her body forward and into the corpse where her skull would bounce off the concrete a couple times with the weight of her body sliding her under the second bed with ease. The entire front half of her body smothered in hot, sticky blood as her breathing grows heavier “Someone, please help me…” she whispers, before fading out of consciousness

Hours later the young girl stirs from beneath her father’s bed, unaware of her surroundings beyond a foul smell and the suffocating, cramped space she finds herself crammed in.

Buzz Buzz,

Buzz Buzz,

Buzz Buzz!

Valerie’s phone erupts with life, vibrating on the nightstand closest to the door, she scrambles forward kicking at the guts behind her with loud disgusting squishing sounds as she squirms from under the bed’s grip. She whines softly, trying to rub the filth from her face as her eyes adjust to the darkness

“Dad? Can you get that!” she groans, wiping her hands on her shirt before rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The phone once again springs to life and danced about the nightstand, glossing over the bedroom with a bright blue light as Valerie is reminded of the scene that coated her in…blood…This is blood…A soft chuckle leaves her cowering lips as the phone erupts with a call, the letters X.O.E displayed in bold letters on the tiny screen, slowly she inches past the bed as she tries desperately to keep her from seeing her disemboweled parent again “Block it out Valerie, you have to stay focused, try to remember” she whispers softly. This seemed to ease her nerves as she answered the phone with a monotone “Hello.”

“MS. BONNA-VELT! My gracious dove, how are you this fine eve?” He booms, a cheery whimsy to his words as though he was utterly pleased to speak to the young girl once again. She takes a deep breath before trying to speak again, so much had happened, so much that she needed to know about the events leading up to…to…She swallows hard, holding herself loosely with one arm as the other helps her hand hold up the phone

“N-not very good Mr. Everts… I’m having trouble remembering…some things…” to this he responded with a deep sigh that melted into a groan, she could feel his smile fade with her words, but he had needed to know. “Please Mr. Everts, I don’t mean to annoy you, I had only hoped you’d fill in some gaps…” an insecurity to her tone, feeling the tension slowly start to dissolve before he replies again with a soft hearty laugh

“I see young girl; your brain must be suppressing some things in an attempt to protect you. Could I come get you from your motel and take you elsewhere to clear your mind? I’m sure the smell is getting to you” Somehow his words made it sound like he knew her father’s corpse was only feet away from her beginning to pucker and bloat. How long had she been out? How long had the body been there? It had to have been a few days for the smell and appearance to be this bad, right?

“Yes please, please come get me!” she cries, not wanting to think about how old the blood on her body was or how she’d come to be covered in it to begin with. Today was beginning to be much worse than she’d ever planned when suddenly there’s a knocking at the door

“Then come outside my love, daddy’s here” he hums through the phone, making her pause and stare at the door…He…He did this…Is he…Is he going to kill her too? “Don’t be shy my sweet flower, come say hello” he coos once more, trying to lure her from her nest, but Valerie is unable to move despite standing only a few feet from the unlocked door. She watches as the handle turns left all the way “Hello?! Are you alright?!” his tone drowning with worry as the handle twists all the way to the right “Say something” he once again cries, throwing the door open to the vision of his beautiful little girl, the fruit of his labor and the love of his life. Their eyes lock, making him visibly swoon “You look so beautiful all painted up for daddy” He closes the distance between them, taking hold of her sides as his thumbs softly rub her love-handles and he washes her over with his gaze once more “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more beautiful” he whispers before his lips press to her jawline, making her body tremble “Valerie, it’s okay. I stayed by your side for these last 4 days, but I didn’t want to scare you…I couldn’t be here when you woke, I’m so terribly sorry…” what had he meant by that? He’s been here with her? What had she done with him on those days and why could she not remember…?

“What are you talking about!” she screams, shoving him to the ground before plopping down onto the bed with an ugly sob “What would you have been doing here for the last four days if I wasn’t awake! Why are you doing this to me!” she wails, slamming her fists into her own stomach a few times “Or am I right to believe I was involved somehow?”

“Involved?” he repeats, as though the word is foreign to him before he erupts with laughter “Such a shame, we’ll have to fix that broken memory of yours right away” with this he pushed himself upward and onto his feet in one swift motion, who the hell is this dude? “But first, I will need you to listen little girl. Come here” he snips, curling his finger in towards himself to direct her.

‘Do I have a choice? What will happen if I don’t? And why didn’t he answer my question’ these were the thoughts that plagued her mind as she obediently hoisted herself upward to her feet and under the arm of the man that obviously murdered her father.

“Atta Girl” He chirps, walking her out the deep green door towards a short maroon 2004 Mercury Marauder with smoky gray leather seats and interior, upon closer inspection she finds the windshield cracked and the radio removed. He let go of her long enough to toss the door open and shove her into the vehicle, but rather than go around the car he scoots along the front of the seats to the driver’s side, pulling the passenger door closed behind him. He starts the car as his eyes lock with hers intently “Please smile little one, you’re going to remember everything soon” somehow, she knew this was meant to calm her, but those words had an effect neither of them could have predicted. As the car backs up, jolting her body forward she grips the car door and the dash as a flash of the days that lead to these events fills her head.

An image of Valerie covered with blood, wearing a crazed grin as a camera films “My, my, such a beautiful girl painted up for daddy…Do you enjoy this? Does it feel good when you remember how it feels to be happy? Such a gorgeous smile you have little one” the man behind it booms, that strange familiar voice. Who is that? It felt as though she was looking through a smudged lens at the world surrounding her “I will be the protector of your memories my love, never again will you feel isolated or trapped. Never again will I allow anything to harm you, my sweet dove. That sick bastard didn’t deserve a daughter as perfect as you, therefore I will take you myself. And through experimentation you will be reborn as my daughter” the camera moves as he draws closer to my face, Everts!!!! He cups her cheek softly, why does his voice sound so melodic right now compared to real life and what does this memory mean? Valerie snaps back to reality as suddenly as she had left it, staring down at the rubber mat place below her feet

“Where are we going?” she mumbles, feeling her palms and hairline begin to sweat “And how much longer? I’m…I’m tired…” a soft tremble to her words, showing that same insecurity that drew him towards her to begin with. He quickly takes her hand in his, resting the two on her thigh as he spoke

“Back to our nest my little dove, it will be quite a while I’m afraid. If you wish to sleep, you can lean on daddy. I promise you’ll be safe” he softly coos, something that once was so comforting felt like a death sentence

“That’s okay…I’ll be alright…daddy” the word felt like vomit leaving her mouth, nothing could be more revolting, but a smile rested comfortably on his face after she had knighted him with his self-proclaimed title “Could you tell me more about our nest?” she hums softly, looking out her window onto the horizon as she buckles herself in the seat more securely not wanting to look towards him.

“It’s out of state I’m afraid, so that beautiful home you wished to tour will be left to collect dust. I have many homes I’ve strategically purchased around the united states and a few in Italy, but we won’t be leaving the country anytime soon. It is in a small town just outside of Bozeman, Montana. It is a very beautiful place, you can see the mountains so that’s a plus, but there’s also a lot of eyes, it is a heavily populated town and for good reason. The home itself is rather cheery and wooden, far from the town for good reason and it overlooks a lake.” The way he spoke made him almost seem normal to her, like he felt panicked for being ‘put on the spot’ and was trying to push past the feeling. Why did he feel so eerie before? She leans closer to the window, feeling the vibration of the car rock her into a deep sleep with an uncertainty towards the days to come.

Sunlight pours in through the windows like an estuary the rays penetrated the glass with ease as it lacked any form of tinting, the light was blinding to sleep covered eyes making life just a little harder for the teen girl “Mhhh!” she groaned, stretching as she sat up off the lap of her captor, it felt so good to sleep after processing so much, but immediately she is reminded of her situation

“Did you sleep well my little dove?” He coos, eyes focused on the road as he awaits her response. It had taken a moment for her to realize, but Valerie remembered falling asleep on the door against the window…Although she had avoided it before her eyes locked on the face that she once found so charming

“Did you…move me?” Irritation tainted each syllable of this question as her eyes burned holes into his soul as she waited for him to confirm what she already knew; it was a way of telling herself she wasn’t crazy.

“Yes, you looked so uncomfortable away from daddy…” he pouted, pushing his lower lip out as though it would influence her response at all. Why did he need to move her onto his lap?! So close to his…Her face turns bright red as she looks away from him, no telling what he could have done to her whilst she slept. Valerie was known to be able to sleep through a hurricane, her mother used to have to carry her sleeping body to the shower and drench her just to get her to school on time because standing her up stopped working after she’d gotten used to it. “I’ve seen that look before; you needn’t worry… I would never taint your purity without permission. I may have my warts, but things of that nature don’t suit my fancy…” meaning he did want her, but is it possible he expects her to want him in time? Rubbing her eyes, the girl yawns softly

“Well good…I don’t think I’d handle something like that very well…” there was truth to her words, but the way she phrased it was incorrect. She was relieved to find out he was not a self-proclaimed rapist, but this brought another question to her attention. He has his warts, but not of that nature…What nature does suit his fancy? She’d hoped it was her paranoia telling her what he fancied was far worse, and turned to her captor sleepily “Just…don’t touch me when I’m sleeping” she huffs, why was this something that needed to be said? It felt like common sense to Valerie, but not all monsters are cut from the same tattered cloth. “How close are we?” her soft quaking voice whispered as the young girl pulled her knees towards her chest and wrapped her slightly muscular arms around them before resting her chin on her knees.

“Only a few miles now. Did you want to stop and get something to eat? Stretch? Use the Bathroom? You know…Normal Human Road-trip activities…”It was clear he felt a little less comfortable with her after being reprimanded “Suppose I can hardly remember what other humans do anymore” he nervously chuckles, slowing the car a bit as his eyes wash Valerie over “I know…I can be a bit much, but I only have your best intentions in mind. I hate to admit I’ve been insensitive…I had time to think on this whilst you slept. I was not sure, but it felt like you were scared of me yesterday…and well, you’ve confirmed that today… with your response to something I’d hoped to be a kind gesture, I will admit I have not had much interaction with other people since college.” He pauses and looks away from her, back to the road, returning to normal speed in one smooth motion. Taking a deep breath Xavier continues in an unsteady tone “What I am hoping to convey is that, I am no threat to you Valerie Amerai Bonna-velt. I may be terrible with social skills and it’s possible my attempts at affection are more…creepy…than…romantic.”

“But?” She hums, leaning back in her chair so her spine is straight as her eyes look expectantly at him. She’d only had him in her life for a few days and already she expected so much of him. Was she starting to care? “But you killed my father?” suddenly the car screeches to a halt skidding towards the side of the road before he turns to face Valerie; the nineteen-year-old Mongolian American whose forehead is resting on the dash thanks to such an abrupt stop.

“I am not the one who killed that man Valerie, you are” the words clap against her ear drums like a gunshot, echoing all the way down her spine as he gripped her wrists “I was hoping to show you the video…but you went and made me spoil the cinematic reveal” he giggles, sounding pleased with himself as Xavier jerks the young girl closer, he was in his late sixties despite not looking a day over twenty-two and much stronger than Valerie despite his nerdy weakling façade “I know this is a lot, and although I love to watch a mind deteriorate…” He pauses, dragging his tongue over his upper lip as though thinking about changing his mind “…I want you to ease into these memories…You had to know the truth, but sometimes these things can be easier if you don’t try to rush it and force my hand. You could have remembered on your own in a few weeks, days or hours, but I wanted to at least wait until you were able to isolate yourself in a room away from me.” What was that? Did his personality start to act up, but he brought it back down to a normal level? What is this guy’s deal? “Suppose now that you know it’s inside the car, I’ll have to ask you to be patience an-”

“That’s okay… I’d rather put off…knowing all the details for now…If what you say is true, then this is probably my last happy day…funny because yesterday was probably one of the worst days of my life…” Valerie forces a laugh, wanting to conceal the shattering pieces leftover from her crumbling sanity. “Food does sound nice…” she whimpers softly, wanting to sway the conversation elsewhere as quickly as possible, to this Xavier swoons letting out a deep hum towards her

“This is why I love you, you really get me” he lets go of her, turning to start the car back up with little trouble “We should learn to focus on the good and a full tummy sounds brilliant!” he coos, pulling away from the shoulder and back onto the highway “What sorts of foods suit your fancy?” he hums, using that phrase again

But things of that nature don’t suit my fancy

What sorts of foods suit your fancy?

“I prefer something salty or savory, sweet things don’t suit my fancy” She hums, being nonspecific as always “I will admit I am being vague because I don’t want to displease you, it’s such a pain to deal with going back and forth over and over….” Her father had a funny way of convincing her to pick whilst rejecting every option she chose until she suggested what he originally wanted to begin with. The entire mess was frustrating for Valerie, she could hardly imagine a person who could stand a situation like that, but she was never a girl of patience.

“Aw how cute, you used my favorite phrasing! Hmmm…Salty or Savory? What a shame you don’t like sweets, there are lots of bakeries on the map. Well what about pizza?” he chimes, trying to cover everything she’s said to him, to prove his willingness to listen “It’s only sweet depending on your toppings and cheese is normally pretty sodium heavy”

“Fantastic idea!” She booms, leaning against the door as she watches him juggle driver and navigating. Something about this struggle was amusing to her, it was in no where near the suffering she’d endured as well as apparently creating it. Her smug grin fades, what an odd thing to find amusing…

The Arrival; Life’s gift

The cabin was a warm sandy tan, the outside looking as though full logs were stacked on top of each other to form the walls despite having such large full windows and crystal doors that slide open like a window laying on it’s side. What a beautiful home! Valerie forces a sweet smile as she rushes to the entrance running her fingers over the smooth glass of the door as her eyes wash over the pitch steel borders that kept the crystal in place. On either side of the door are golden dragons carved into the light wood, she can hardly stop herself from running her fingers over the glistening design “How much does a place like go for anyway?” she slurs, her eyes bouncing from her new shelter to Xavier

“To be perfectly candid, I do not remember. It may have been a gift from one of my admirers or one of the homes purchased by my parents…The décor will most certainly remind me where this cabin came from.” He closes the distance between himself and the young girl before nudging her with his hip “Open the door for me, my sweet dove” the sounds of pleasure rippling in throughout his voice as he watched a shiver jolt up the young girl’s spine.

“What did I tell you? That makes me so uncomfortable…” Valerie groans, sliding the door open for the lengthy man as he stumbled inside holding several boxes and bags, he had clearly prepared for this trip. Had he known they’d need to flee Premont, Texas? She felt deep inside herself that those videos contained a truth beyond that of her father’s demise. Valerie rubs her arms softly before entering the home, inside was dozens of family photos, anchors, and sea shells as if the entire home had been decorated with an ocean side theme “So? Parents? Or lovers?” she calls into the house. Quickly she follows behind her voice deeper into the cabin, where her feet meet the animal skin rugs stacked on top of one another about the room, nearly covering all the cherry-wood that made up the floor. The room was small compared to the rest of the house, with a large “L” shaped couch in the center of the room with many colorful pillows with words like “Live, Laugh, Love” written in cursive “God it’s so cozy I can literally feel the sea of big fluffy blankets and fuzzy socks beginning to smother me” she calls, fake dying as her body plops onto the plush coffee sofa

“Oh, don’t complain, we won’t be staying here long.” He huffs, sitting down near the young maiden’s feet as he leans deep into the couch as a sigh of relief blooms from his pouty lips “You could have assisted me in moving our luggage”

“Assist my kidnapper in moving his luggage and my stolen stuff? Do you ever listen to yourself when you speak?” she snips back quickly, hearing the smile on his face as he sits up, hunching over as his elbows rest on his knees and his finger intertwine

“I hardly kidnapped you, you walked with me to the car with no resistance and you didn’t try to run at Luigi’s Haunted Pizza, so I could very easily disagree with you. The same as any jury would, evidence makes a case young Bonna-velt and I’m afraid the proof is not on your side” Valerie could not stand his smugness, although this was only the case because Xavier was exposing the truth, although her terror served as a mental block she’d shown no sign of trying to escape this man’s clutches. Why was that? Was it the information he had about the four nights escaping her memory? Or the fear of starting over fresh with an unfamiliar face? She’d spent so many years living with her father, with no friends or family members to lean on her father was truly all she had left in this world and the moment he was gone, she latched onto this parasite as though it was a host. “Are you ready for tonight’s examination?” he hums, looking her over with an intense gaze “There’s been no resurface of your abilities during our trip, this leads me to believe you have a specific trigger that allows you to use those gifts” did he mean the body enhancers he injected into me the first night we met?

“Not now…I want to nap first, it’s been a long day of really bad news…I really just want to sleep…” suddenly the couch depresses, like something is crawling over her body, she feels warm thighs pushing her knees into her stomach by raising her thighs. She looks up to see him pressing his manhood to her crotch as he leans over her small frame, beginning to kiss her neck and collar bone as his arm slides under the back of her left shoulder. He cups the nape of her neck, looking deep into her eyes with a burning desire

“Tell me you’ll let me hold you whilst you sleep?” He whimpers, resting his chin on the tops of her breasts “It would be an honor to protect you throughout the night” she felt there was more to this than what he gave away, but whether she wanted to or not he quickly flipped the two so his body was below her on the opposite side of the couch “Cuddle into me and christen me yours forever” these words were so intense, what had he wanted her to say? Gripping onto his shirt, she stares down at him like a deer in the headlights very obviously afraid of such a sudden advance towards her.

“I don’t think so…You really ought to go…” She whispers, climbing of his body with great struggle as he tries to hold her close to him, Valerie disliked this pressure and although she wanted so badly to be held until all her problems could melt into the sound of two hearts beating. “Goodnight Everts…” She hums, wandering off into the home to find a bed to sleep in, when the sound of a vhs tape playing floods the air as a light flickered through a cracked door at the end of the hall. Valerie held her breath as she heard her own voice whine “I don’t wanna do this, I wanna sleep!” it was very clearly her, but it sounded much more intoxicated than she was.

“Val? What are you doing?! Who is this guy?! Val?! VALERIE!”

Daddy! Her eyes swarm with tears as she runs to the room, knocking the door open with such great force that the metal door makes a depression where it met the wall as her eyes meet with a flickering light. When her eyes finally adjust to the monitor’s blinding blue light, Valerie recognizes herself standing next to a liquified blur of reds, pinks, browns and grays, what on earth is that? She leans into the screen trying to take a better look at blob when suddenly it solidifies reforming the man she called father gasping for air, suppose lungs don’t work in liquid form.

“Valerie…Valerie please”

Tears swell in the young girl’s eyes as she watches her father plead with a dead-eyed version of herself, the mindless woman one screen crouches down looking him deep into his eyes “Solid, Gaseous, Liquid…Let us see if we can do all at once” the girl whispers forcing his mouth open as her fingers glow a bright white, making the saliva in his mouth and throat a solid. As her father chokes, trying to pull the brittle saliva from his throat as the beastress cackles

“Such a beautiful girl, are you enjoying your new powers? Show me more, show daddy what you can do” a voice off camera cheers, as Valerie’s father looks at the man behind the voice with terror as the dead eyed Valerie grips his body at a couple different areas and with a flash of light she changes his body into a mess of liquids, colored gases and hardened flesh.

“Just like ice” the girl cries slamming her fist into the upper half of his skull, watching the ice-like matter shatter and scatter about the room like red shards of glass. Valerie looks away from the screen, unable to watch herself rage like a brat being denied of something it wants as she vomits into the hall “h-how could I do this?” she trembles through rough gags, the world around her beginning to twirl like a ballerina. You did it Valerie, you did it without hesitation and you put this on mom. “YOU MONSTER! HOW COULD YOU?” Valerie cries at herself, feeling the ground quake below her, as her brain swells with memories of abuse, years of mental and physical abuse. NO, IT’S NOT HIS FAULT! HE WAS TOO DRUNK TO UNDERSTAND! IT WAS NOT FAIR! NO! He did this! He did this to me… She slams her fists into the sides of her skull as tears stream down her face, why did he do this to her? What has she become? These feelings bring upon an unknown feeling that boils up inside her bringing forward the quirk named Matter Manipulation; the name is suddenly all she can think about, but where had it come from?

“Valerie! Valerie!” Xavier cries, rounding the corner as the world around him suddenly begins to mold and change “Valerie no!” He cries as his body freezes in place, standing frozen like stone as he stared into her eyes. His legs beginning to change color and collapse below him as the blood in his legs solidifies “Please! STOP IT VALERIE! PLEASE I LOVE YOU!” he sobs in terror, but his wails fall upon deaf ears as Valerie closes the distance between the two of them and grip his neck tightly turning it into a floating blur of flesh colored liquids. The sounds of the tape rewinding replacing a theme song, the vhs tape beginning once again as her hands grip his shoulders

“Wait Gorgeous! I have something to tell you, darling. That dress is so snug, it really suits my fancy” Xavier calls through the screen, putting more emphasis on his favorite phrase when it suddenly becomes clear to Valerie. She’d noticed every time he used that phrasing her brain became fuzzy and she felt more inclined to listen to him, it was clear he’d kept her under this state when the effects of his serum were most potent.

“Your ability…what is it?” she snips, reforming his throat to its solid form. He stumbles forward gripping onto her, his head spinning as she watches him gasp and choke on the very air he has been deprived of. How cute! Look at him struggle! A smile plays on her lips as she steps back watching him fall onto his hands and knees

“My sweet dove, please, I’ve done nothing to deserve this treatment and being tortured doesn’t suit my fancy” He whines, trying once again to strain her consciousness to no avail, she pushes her power hard against him once more watching him squirm in agony before gasping for air once again “Fine…It’s called Deception;  it’s the ability to change what a person feels or sees, I can only maintain this ability for 6 days and my strength over a person’s mind varies on the amount of trust I have between myself and that person….the less a person trusts me the harder it is to maintain the false reality… and your power is a chemical mixture of my own ability and several others….those samples were extracted through forcible autopsy…”Forcible autopsy? Does that mean he’s made a name for himself? He’d never been direct with her before, but she knew immediately this was the standard, a form of expectation for future acquaintances.  A smile spreads across her face as she grips his throat from behind pushing him deep into the wood as she twirls planting her behind onto the arch of his back before her palms glow sliding from his neck down his spine liquifying his essence

The Heroes’ Arrival; Save Me

Had either of them thought this through?! Had she even considered repercussions for her actions? Although she’d hardly had time to adapt to these new memories, there was no time to watch the puppeteer draw his last breath. She releases him from her hold, exposing herself for the monster she is as the thick black smoke that makes us her body is wavered by someone busting in the front door, the glass shattering and bouncing off various areas around the entrance.

“Doctor Everts” a strong woman’s voice calls, as the sound of footsteps advancing towards the pair fills the silence. Damn it! Unable to hold him and continuously restructure the liquid formation of his throat as her time limit was 30 seconds without contact, but luckily his throat would likely reform with some sort of mutation as she didn’t maintain it’s shape up until it’s reforming. She leaps up from his body, rushing for a window in the back room behind the stack of screens and vhs players, Valerie tosses the rack holding the monitors down onto the door jamming it shut. She pushes off the toppled metal rack she grips onto the windowsill pulling herself through the window and onto slick dew-covered grass that leads into a forest of some kind, pushing off the ground with her hands she takes off into full sprint, no sense in trying to save energy if she has no idea how to control this stupid ability! She tries snapping her fingers and focusing as she builds the distance between herself and the heroes who would never understand the ever-growing hollowness inside her, she’d become a murder, there was no other path for her.

((This is where the road forks, for those of you who wish to save this pitiful hate-birthed beast then this is where your character will enter as either a hero or villain, either way you must play an ally))

((For those of you who wish to have a more matured/seasoned villain you will continue from here and reply to the end of this post))

 A Decade to Fester; They Do Not Dare Defy Me

Many years have past since the day Matter Manipulation was gifted to young Valerie, a decade to be quite precise and as the temptress neared her thirties a broiling need to be acknowledged by the world grew in its wake. She’d wasted enough time training, scheming, and waiting for a day when the world would be forced to face pain beyond their feeble little dreams.

“Aqua Regia!” Darius booms, entering her chambers with a concerned expression rest on his glowing ocean eyes as they lock onto the voluptuous Valerie, he was her second in command and most trusted ally, the one who saved her from the cruelty of those who held the title of Heroes. Those who would brand her very soul with a bible of law; a law book sewn together by the suffering and consumption of it’s own people, written in the blood of every less than fair pigment or disobedient civilian by sadists and hypocrites. “Val, please we must speak of the mission to come. If either you or I were to misstep we would lose the very foundation of all that we have built, quickly dear girl we mustn’t waste time” with this he waved me towards the door as his soft poetic mannerisms lull her senses into a calm

“Yes, Of course, but please Avalon do not fret, you are the key to my throne and with you I will forge a Camelot that would put Tartarus to shame” Aqua Regia coos, slipping from her solid form into a smoke like cloud to enhance her speed as she moves towards the villain Elusion with the quirk Escape Artist or the ability to find an escape plan for any situation, the back lash is sometimes there really is no escape although he has yet to stumble upon this problem. Valerie is able to return to solid form by keeping hands, heart and lungs solid inside the smoke form otherwise her body would remain gaseous until reaching the limited amount of time. This time gap started at thirty seconds, but after nearly a decade of training she can hold most things in any of the three forms for a whole hour, sadly no human can hold their breath for an hour so the gift has become rather tricky to maneuver without sparing a few insignificant lives. As her body slowly reforms Darius takes this time to go over some of our earlier successes

“Indeed, Queen Arthur” He would start, wanting to begin on her good side “The first two steps of our plan have come to fruition with very minor mishaps, the pot has been stirred as you say. Drug Families are at each other’s throats trying to find the rat amongst them, unaware it was the clients who sold them to the pros. Secondly, all of the bombs went off without a hitch, except the last hospital apparently a hero arrived in time to stop both with seconds to spare.” His face remained calm and hard like a statue, he knew this would make her erupt furious that anyone was able to catch onto her scheme “But we’ve reached the results you hoped for Ms. Regia, the pros have all eyes on you for the show tonight.” Despite the second step having a few misfires everything was going according to plan.

“Well…At least things are still moving forward, are the boys reaching out to the head of each family as we speak?” She groans, clearly annoyed with the lack of security in her strategy, nothing is guaranteed and yet she’d hoped this would as close to guaranteed as physically possible. The two descend the stairs her warm honey eyes scan the crumbling lot for any sign of you, surely you knew she would be here awaiting your arrival, her lower lip presses out in a pout as she looks to her partner “Suppose they didn’t understand the clues that we left with each body?”

“Nonsense Mistress, you were very careful to be as obvious as possible” He assures her as she pauses, lingering at the window from the second floor. She was much taller now due to the various hormones and chemical injected into her body all those years ago, her hair was a long chocolate stream of shiny wavy locks and her once ashen tan skin soon became a warm mocha. Her once boxy frame had smoothed over into a more feminine look, being replaced with an hourglass figure. “Forgive my sentiment, but you’ve come too far Valerie to ever be made a fool of again.” Her heart sang at his sweet words, a smile resting comfortably on her lips.

“Thank you” she whispers, reaching for the illusion of her dear friend when the door flies off it’s hinges into the stairs. It would appear that they’ve arrived and so abruptly. Valerie growls under her breath, trying to maintain her composure as the hero/villain enters “I’m relieved you decided to show your face, this will feel all the sweeter” her palms glowing a golden color as she stands in an offensive position

((Comment Alpha1 if you want to save her as a child and change her fate as a hero or comment Alpha2 if you want to be a villain that assists her as a child. If you wanted to fight older Valerie as a hero comment Beta1 or if you want to be a villain that recruits older Valerie comment Beta2))

Name: Valerie Amerai Bonna-Velt

Villain name; Aqua Regia

Age: 19 or 29

Ability: Matter Manipulation; the ability to change and mold the shape/state of matter for limited amounts of time (Overuse of this ability results in a loss of free will; becoming an obedient zombie)

Appearance; Valerie is a 5’2 tall girl who weighs one-hundred-twenty-five pounds, she has a large behind and C cup breasts with warm thick thighs that meet at a waist that appears to be smaller due to wide hips and broad shoulders. When she was 19 her hair was a raven black, but now it resembles a dark chocolate brown with a healthy shine that she’s most definitely proud of! Her eyes are slanted, narrow and a light honey colored with short lashes that thick around the outer corner of her eyes on the top and bottom. Her eyebrows are thick and well groomed, but sparse with a very high arch. (Very bottom-heavy frame!)

Blood type: O negative

Height; 5’2

Weight; 125 lbs.

Weaknesses; Valerie’s powers cannot break the law of conservation (matter cannot be created or destroyed. Therefore, there must be the same number of atoms of each element on each side of a chemical equation.) She is also unable to hold an object in a state foreign to its nature for longer than her time limit (Starts at 30 seconds and ends with 1 hour) The heart, lungs and hands are exposed in gaseous form. Her circulatory system slowly shuts down in solid form and she runs the risk of losing limbs if she over uses it, not to mention solid form is as fragile as ice. Finally, in liquid form she cannot reform herself and must wait for the time limit to pass (She doesn’t really use it)

#roleplay #open rp #oc rp #rp #Helpmedevelopemystory #writers #my writing #writers on tumblr #writer's block #writer's blog #villian

[hnrywinchester]

Fare Thee Well- - 4

Summary: She hasn’t seen Gabriel since he died nine years ago, then a phone call changes everything.

Pairing: Gabriel x OFC

Series Warnings: ANGST, smut, swearing, character deaths, PTSD Gabriel, follows canon 13x18 on.

Beta’d by: @aquietuniverse

Words: 4.7k

Chapter 5

Masterlist

If anyone wants a tag, shoot me an ask :), I also can’t link the older chapters or master list without tumblr not letting this be found in searches, let m know if you need 1-3! It’s on Ao3 as well.

Screams echoed through the barren, cold walls. The stone was freezing beneath his feet, eyes blind in the pitch black of the cell he’d called home for years now. Three years to be exact. He winced from the sting of the thread holding his lips together as he shifted his mouth, running through the wounds as if they were the eye of a needle, the freshly formed bruise on his cheekbone aching through the movement. When would this end? Never. It would never end. “Gabriel,” the gravelly Southern voice of Asmodeus sang out from the dark, “come on out boy, I need a pick me up.” His heart began to race, thudding against his ribs as the echoing footsteps got closer and closer. He had nothing left to give, what more could he want? “Gabriel, don’t make me come in there.” The angel whimpered pathetically as he slid out from the corner, unable to rise to his feet. Pain shot through his arms as his palms planted into the scabrous floor, almost giving out as he bore his weight down. Slowly, he dragged his limp body to the barred door that contained him, seeing now the faint blur of white waiting to greet him. He could feel the darkness emanating off of it, along with his own powers, his grace singing to him even from inside the demon, begging to be released. “There you are.” Agony seared through his scalp as fingers wound into the blood matted hair on his head, pulling him upright onto his knees, opening his neck to a position of complete vulnerability; to complete submission. He’d been practically numbed to the burn of the needle piercing the yellow and purple welted skin of his neck, the ominous chuckle of his captor always followed, demeaning the fading angel further and further every time. He was reduced to nothing. “I paid your dearly beloved a little visit today,” Asmodeus taunted as he injected the swirling silver remnants he’d drawn out into his forearm, a sinister smile plastered on his scarred face. Gabriel felt an emotion surge through him for the first time in a long time—fury. His hands shot to the bars, shaking the rusted iron on it’s hinges. He felt power wash through him, what few ounces of grace he still had revving to life and pushing forward. The string on his lips loosening as he finally began to tear through the fibers as an angry roar broke free from his chest. “Careful now,” Asmodeus warned as he crouched, coming face to face with the rage-filled eyes of his prisoner, “You’ve been good, and I’m a man of my word. But one toe out of line and with great pleasure I’ll ensure she’s…” Slowly, the demon dragged his finger across his throat, tilting his head to one side, grinning from ear to ear…  “No!” Gabriel screamed, shooting upright, throwing the warm, weighted object from his chest off and onto the bed. Sweat was pouring from his face, body trembling as he attempted to identify his surroundings. Moonlight was faintly shining in from a window and he was sitting on something soft and warm. This didn’t feel like hell, but that was always what Asmodeus had wanted Gabriel to think... “Hey… hey,” a frantic, sleepy voice sounded from beside him. Instinctively, and still half asleep, Liv reached for him, wanting to comfort him, reassure him. Her brain still wasn’t working right, exhaustion clogging every one of her senses. She couldn’t have been asleep for more than two hours. Her fingers came to his arms, only to immediately be batted away, the impact of his flailing, defensive hands stinging where they landed. Trying not to react, worried it would only derail him further, she bit the inside of her cheek, suppressing the surprised little yelp that threatened to sneak out, pulling her arms back in close to her chest. His head began whipping from side to side, as if he was unfamiliar, misplaced, a trail of incomprehensible mutters falling from his lips. “Gabriel!” Liv called sharply, causing his terrified eyes to shoot in her direction as she leaned to her left to turn on the bedside lamp. The prior days events began trickling back as he looked at her, sleep tousled and panicked, “Liv?” “You’re okay, I’m here.” “Fuck…” Tears pricked at his eyes as shame came flooding through his mind, replacing his terror. Still broken, still useless, and unable to distinguish reality from nightmares. This was what he’d been reduced to. He turned and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his chin tucked deeply into his chest. He should have known, remembered, but he was still ruled by fear. He was still a prisoner. Slowly, she crawled over to the huddled man perched with his back to her, careful not to move too quickly, to keep from shocking him even further. Her heart hurt for him, what momentary happiness they had found was seemingly a ruse, a false sense of normalcy. Her soul cried out to the absent powers above to please help him, but there was no one, there would always be no one. Warm arms gently circled around his middle, strong and present. As her chest pressed against his back and her cheek gently came to rest against the nape of his neck, he pinched his eyes shut. This was real. She was real. The calm pounding against the wall of anxiety in his chest begging to run free was real. Asmodeus was gone, dead, burned to ash at his own hand, but that hadn’t erased the damage or fixed his shattered identity. He tried to anchor himself to the way she felt molded against him, her position comforting, yet guarding. The way her bare skin felt on his was euphoric, his nerves singing in relief as she sat perfectly still, holding him as he worked through his racing thoughts. This was real. Finally he responded, unsure of how much time had passed. Gently, he ran his hand across her arms around his stomach, stopping and entwining his fingers with hers when they met, hers immediately responding with a reassuring squeeze. She was afraid to push him, unsure of what images were flashing behind his tightly closed eyes. Wishing there was a way to transfer his pain to her, she nuzzled her nose into the hair behind his ears. Whatever he needed, she would be. As hard as it had seemed to again surrender herself to another person, sitting here with him was effortless.  He sighed as he leaned back into her embrace, shifting to the side slightly to give his lips access to her temple, planting a lingering kiss. Confident now that he at least knew who she was, and where he was, she lifted her head and rested her chin over his shoulder. “Better?” she cooed softly, remembering the similar way their roles had been reversed the day before. “No,” he answered, leaning his forehead against hers. “Not yet,” she promised, and she meant it.

She leaned up and pressed her lips to his, tightening her grip around his waist. He responded with a muffled groan, melting into her. The key to healing was here, but there was still one more step to take, one more wrong to right. They’d never be safe until the final name on the list had been crossed off, and Asmodeus had only been the first. He would never rest until revenge had been drawn out in blood, he couldn’t. Loki had started it, and Gabriel would end it. As she laid herself back into the blankets, he followed her every motion, curling up behind her as she turned to her side, clicking the light back off. He read the red numbers illuminated on the nightstand clock, 1:27. This poor woman was exhausted, he could feel it. Her heart rate was rapid, still reeling from the adrenaline surge from his abrupt panicked episode, and he could feel her stomach growling under his arm. He was positive she was feeling absolutely miserable, and it was at his expense. He’d always destroyed her little by little, why would this time around be any different? He should have walked away when he had the chance; he should have never started, he was a curse. “Talk to me,” Liv mumbled, half asleep, but still noticing the way his body was tensing around her. “No,” he answered, quickly and cold. He didn’t want to talk about, he didn’t even want to think about it. There was no corner deep enough for him to shove everything floating around in his head, and he certainly wasn’t about to welcome it. Her heart sank as he closed himself off, but tomorrow was a new day, a fresh start, and she intended to turn over a new page. Her life of lurching from indecision to indecision, fight to fight needed to end. She was tired, spent, and ready to hold onto the man wrapped around her as if life itself depended on it. As she drifted off to sleep, her typical fantasies played over in her head, as they did every night. Except this time she felt one step closer than she ever thought she would. It felt like three days had passed. When she woke, the sun was filtering in through the sheer, white curtains, the light bouncing off the bright walls. The bed was warm, almost too warm; this was how a bed felt in a home. Not that she really could remember what a home even felt like, it had been eighteen years since she’d called anything but that old car home. The sheets were soft, the faint scent of fabric softener still evident on the quilt she was buried in. A warm hand was resting on her thigh, still and comforting. “Morning sweetheart,” the bed’s other occupant greeted groggily, turning to their side and pressing their chest against her back, an arm lazily draping around her middle. Gabriel. Home. She really was home. “Were you, actually asleep?” She asked, shimmying deeper into him, curling her fingers into his. “Mhmm,” he breathed, nuzzling his face into her hair as his lips brushed the hollow behind her ear, “and I’d like to continue unless you had other plans.” Well he seemed better. Although odd that he was actually sleeping, she couldn’t deny that it brought her a sense of unbridled happiness. She was certain if had to do with his drained grace, making him more human, and she wondered if these new experiences were part of what was unsettling him so deeply. Her eyes flicked to the clock, 11:46. They’d been sleeping for almost twelve hours. The last time she’d slept more than five… she couldn’t even remember. Her body felt good for the first time in a decade, the aches and pains that usually accompanied her waking from a restless night of nightmares and tossing were gone. Soon Gabriel’s breathing had slowed and deepened, all signs pointing to him having fallen back into, whatever this could be called. Angel recharge? His breath rhythmically hit the back of her neck, warming and chilling her at the same time. He was safe. She was afraid to move, fearful of disturbing him from his much needed and deserved rest, but she so desperately wanted to see his face. Slowly she started to shift, inching her body around under his arm, careful not to make any rapid movements. When she’d settled onto her other side, her heart skipped a beat as her eyes landed on one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen. He looked so young and unburdened in his sleep. The sight was something she never knew she needed until it was right in front of her. His hair was mussed-up all around his head, messily sticking up in certain places, some falling into his eyes that were free of the trauma etched lines she’d noticed since his return the day before. The light stubble coming in along his chin was mesmerizing, the sprinkling of grays mixed with the golden brown made him look just that much more human; she’d have to convince him to keep it. Subconsciously her hand had found its way to his face, the backs of her fingers gently running up and down his jaw gently, slowly, as if remapping the angles of his face. “So, do you have other plans?” He mumbled sleepily, his lips slightly ticking upwards into a smirk as his hand began running lazily up and down the bare skin of her back. There was no point in trying to resist. This may never happen again, and if she didn’t make the most of it, this perfect opportunity would go to waste. She nestled in closer to him, letting every one of her senses be all-consumed by him, her lips finding the soft skin of his neck, humming every time they made contact. He remained still as she worked her way around his exposed skin, his fingers continuing along her back, soothing and contented. He felt a small pang of selfishness as her affections went unreciprocated as he let the peace from her closeness wash over him. The night hadn’t been easy, but waking up to this had certainly been worth the nightmares. He felt undeserving and unworthy, he shouldn’t even be here right now, with her hand gently roaming his chest and her mouth leaving a trail of warmth as she traveled along every inch of exposed skin that she could reach. “I love you,” she murmured against his throat, curling her fingers lightly into his disheveled hair, “forever.” “All I ever wanted,” he whispered in response, unsure if it was relief or guilt settling into his stomach. Her lips found his, pulling him into a slow, burning kiss. He moved with unhindered gratitude, always having been better at showing his emotions than telling. He poured himself into her as he began to take over, his hands finding the softness of her hips before rolling her onto her back. Hovering above her now, he took a moment to gaze down and marvel at the sight beneath him. Something about her seemed different. Everything was softer, gentler, less intent, the angry fire behind her eyes had dimmed. Her brown hair was splayed across the pillow, fanning around her delicate face and he was certain he’d never seen anything more beautiful in his entire existence. How was he ever supposed to have walked away from this? Thousands of years on Earth had certainly built up his self control, but her? It was like a cigar to a smoker or wine to an alcoholic; he was addicted. “What?” she asked with a nervous smile, as she ran her hands up and down his arms on either side of her. “Nothing,” he cooed, leaning his head down and kissing her deeply once, before pulling back up, “I just like you.” “Shut up.” He drank her laugh in, kissing the end of it into his own smile. If this is what mornings were like, forget days and nights, he’d spend forever staring into those sleep-lidded whiskey eyes, worshipping every inch of her before her feet could even hit the floor. As he pulled his mouth from hers again he rubbed his nose along her cheek, enjoying the frustrated little whine that rumbled in her throat. Her back arched towards him as he continued his slow, tantalizing kisses from her jaw, down her neck, to her collar bone, the pace almost agonizing. The groans and whimpers sighing from her nose matching her fidgeting movements as she craved for more contact. But he showed no signs of relenting any time soon as he again found his way to her lips, his tongue swiping against hers in one swift motion before pulling away once again. “Stop teasing,” she pouted, every nerve tingling, reaching out for him. “I’m gonna take care of you, don’t you worry,” he responded as her arms came around his neck, attempting to pull the immovable being back down to her, “but you woke me up. Punishment.” This was the most extraordinary torture she’d ever been subjected to. She wanted him so badly it ached, she was on fire, already covered by a thin sheen of sweat and he hadn’t even touched her yet. When his lips locked hard onto her pulse point, she knew she had lost control, moaning as his tongue swiped over the reddening spot, his stubble scratching the sensitive skin only adding to the sensation. If he were anyone else she’d be completely embarrassed at her lack of restraint, but with him, it had always been liberating. “Gabriel,” she sighed, begging with her tone to give her what she so desperately wanted, her knees shooting up and pressing into his sides as she tried to soothe the throbbing between her legs. “Patience sweetheart,” he exhaled, bringing his eyes back to hers, one eyebrow raised, “lay back, and enjoy. I’m just getting started.” Her heart skipped into her throat as his dark, lust-blown eyes bore into hers, his words alone sending another shockwave searing through her. He dipped down again, his hair brushing against her cheeks as he devoured her mouth, finally giving her more than one touch at a time, their tongues battling for dominance. While he still had a reign over his composure, hers was lost. Her hands couldn’t land on any one part of him, fingernails leaving trails of red across his skin, trying everything in her power to rile him up as much as he had her, but he remained steadfast. “I always did love your eagerness,” he chuckled as he sat back against his heels, earning him a deathly glare, “still do.” “Stop talking,” she hissed, feeling his absence as the cool air of the room hit her overheated skin. “Or what?” The cocky grin and arched eyebrow were enough to drive her mad, but the dimples on his cheeks sent her falling over the precipice, and he loved every second of it. Her swollen lips were curled up into the perfect little scowl, her eyes practically black as her dewy skin glinted in the sunlight. “Sweetheart, you look good enough to eat,” he taunted, purposely lowering his voice down a few octaves. “Oh no…” she groaned, rolling her eyes as a smile stretched across her face, laughter bubbling from her chest. Scooting himself down the bed, he began to lay on his stomach, peppering her stomach and hips with his lips on his way down. The anticipation was killing her. He was the only person she’d ever felt comfortable enough to share this level of intimacy with, and she’d craved it for so long. When his lips finally sealed over that little bundle of nerve endings she thought she would explode right then and there. The scream that erupted from her mouth was sinful, every muscle in her body contracting at once. It took all of her remaining self control to not lock her thighs around his head as he continued, his tongue and lips working in perfect tandem against her. She didn’t dare look down at him, knowing full well his eyes would be locked on her, afraid that that was all she needed to topple over the edge. She wasn’t ready for this to be over. Her toes curled as her abdominal muscles spasmed; her fingers had wound their way into his hair, anchoring him to his current task. “Why are you holding back?” He whispered, his breath hot against her, the new sensation making her efforts even more difficult, “Don’t think I can’t tell.” His lips moved to her inner thighs as he waited for his answer, letting her mind clear just enough to sigh out her answer, “I don’t want it to end.” “Who said it had to end?” When his tongue returned to her core she finally succumbed, screaming his name into the quiet room, and he stayed unrelenting, only slowing his pace just enough to not overstimulate her. She was writhing again moments later, completely submitted to the man between her legs. She’d given in, her thighs spread wide on either side of him, one hand combing through his honey blonde hair as she finally followed his instruction to lay back and enjoy. Moans, mutters, and whines of his name bubbled off her lips like champagne, that coil of pressure returning to her belly. Gentler this time, that coil snapped again, the wave of release washing through her contracted muscles as he eased her through, her eyes finally brave enough to look down at him. With a gentle pull on his chin she welcomed his lips back to hers, kissing him deep as she waited for him to take the next step. But he didn’t. “What about you?” She breathed, regrettably pulling away from his worshipful mouth. “What about me?” He replied, resting his hand on her face, running his thumb along her puffy bottom lip. “I got what I wanted.” This had to be a dream. There was no way this was real life. The fresh breeze floating in from the open window, the sunlight filtering through the gauzy white curtains; this was a dream. Nowhere like this existed in her world, and there was no way anyone like Gabriel could exist anywhere but a dreamworld. She was under a djinn spell. That was it. It explained everything… except the gurgling rumbling through her stomach right now, she couldn’t remember ever having fantasized about being absolutely starving. “So what should we do today besides each other?” Gabriel asked, snapping her back to reality with his lopsided smirk. “I think I need to eat, before we do anything else,” she groaned, unable to focus on anything besides the emptiness sitting in her abdomen now. Vaguely she remembered passing a diner moments before pulling into the motel, her fantasies now shifting from Gabriel’s talented tongue to eggs slathered in hot sauce and a half pound of bacon. But that also meant pulling her gelatin body from this warm bed and away from the face hovering inches above her. She couldn’t help but smile as she looked at him. Whatever this world was, she was going to die here, because she was never leaving. “I’ll go, I remember that place right down the road,” he cooed, his voice soft and endearing. Before her cloudy mind could even react he’d rolled off of her, his bare feet padding gently against the wooden floor as he searched the room for his long since discarded clothing. She was instantly colder, missing even the weight of his body on the mattress with her. She turned and watched as he slid his jeans back on, soaking in how absolutely normal this moment felt. There was no case, no monsters, no demons, it was just them, waking up at noon and staying in bed for another hour just because they could. His search continued for his shirt, and she couldn’t help but laugh at the way his eyebrows furrowed in frustration and his lips fluttered as he mumbled to himself. “Have you seen my…” he muttered, looking in the most obscure places he could find, “the hell? Did it grow legs?” She spotted it almost immediately, crumpled in a ball in the corner by her side of the bed, but watching him look was providing far too much entertainment to give in just yet. As he crouched down to crawl under the small wooden desk, a pit dropped into her stomach. He was leaving. He was going to walk out that door, and what if he never came back? Last time, he hadn’t come back, what would be different about this time? She wasn’t about to lose him for a cheap diner breakfast. “You don’t have to go,” she snapped, voice much harder than she intended, and he was taken aback by the sudden change in her demeanor. “Are you just gonna starve?” He questioned, looking at her skeptically, reading through her now rigid posture and sharp gaze. “I can go.” “Why don’t you want me to…” It dawned on him. She didn’t trust him. She didn’t want him to leave, because she didn’t think he’d come back. A flurry of emotions circled through him, guilt, disappointment, a little bit of anger and resentment. While he knew he deserved her doubt, he didn’t understand why she couldn’t comprehend that it hadn’t been his fault. She acted like he’d wanted to leave her, that he was some flight risk. “Liv, come on. You honestly can’t have that little faith in me. It’s right down the road,” he scoffed, raising his hands in exasperation. “That’s… it’s not that. That’s not it,” she stumbled. For someone who lied for a living, this was pretty dismal. “Then what?” “I just, I can do it myself. You don’t even eat, you don’t need to go.” This was bad. There was no way he was buying this for one second. It felt wrong and accusatory, but somewhat justified, right? “If you don’t even trust me to go half a mile down the road then…” he sat on the edge of the bed, clearly agitated, “what’s the point?” His words stung deep. Her cheeks started to burn as the weight of them settled into her chest. He was right. This was supposed to be a fresh start. She was being unfair, untrusting, this wasn’t how she wanted to begin again. It felt like going against her better judgement, but her judgement had also been seriously skewed from a life of solitude and barricades. What did she know about healthy relationships? Not a thing. What did she know about someone actually wanting to take care of her? Also, not a thing. He deserved a chance. “You’re right. I’m sorry,” she replied, hanging her head, trying to suppress the warning flares going off in her head, “I just…” “I know,” he whispered, pulling her into a tight embrace, “I’ll be back in twenty.” She nodded against his chest, trying to surrender to the good thoughts playing over in her mind. When was the last time someone had went out and gotten her breakfast? Why was this a bad thing? He would be back. He was coming back, with food, and those stupid dimples and messy hair. Twenty minutes. “Don’t forget hot sauce,” she mumbled against his neck before lifting her head. “I wouldn’t dare,” he assured, “I survived nine years of hell, no way I’m dying over forgetting Tabasco.” With a quick kiss to her forehead, he climbed off the bed and snatched his shirt from the corner, eyeing her bitterly as he realized she’d known where it was all along. She responded with a mischievous shrug, smirking, feeling that lightheartedness she’d woken up with returning, or maybe it was lightheadedness, at this point she wasn’t really sure. “Where’s the keys?” He asked, and her eyes widened. “Keys? You haven’t driven in nine years! No way you’re getting the keys to my sweet girl,” she snapped, shaking her head. “What? Come on it’s like riding a bike. It’s locked up here with all my other worldly, celestial knowledge, it’s not like I forgot.” “Do you even know how to ride a bike?” “No, but I know how to drive a car. Oh, there they are.” “No!” As she shrieked he ran to the door, opening it wide as she clambered out of bed, forcing her to stumble and grab the thick heavy quilt to shield herself from any unsuspecting eyes, giving him just enough time to slip out, blowing her a kiss from the entryway before closing the door behind him. She knew she’d be too late, but she scrambled around the room, locating panties and a tank top and throwing them on before whipping the door open. She’d caught him as he was reversing her beloved Charger from its parked spot right in front the of hotel, spraying gravel everywhere as he laid his foot down heavy on the gas. “Don’t crash my fucking car!” She screamed as he put the car into drive, turning the radio up to drown her out. He responded with a smirk and a thumbs up, her concern for her poor, precious coupe only growing as he sped off down the parking lot, the wheels squealing as he pulled out onto the road.

#gabriel fanfiction #Gabriel fanfic #gabriel #spn fanfic #spn fanfiction #supernatural fanfic #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural #spn #gabriel x oc

[creideamhgradochas]

Thanks to the lovely @aubzylynn for taking the time to answer these! Get to know more about lovely Aubrey, go give her a follow and then show her some love!

These questions are from this list. You should check it out, there’s 50 questions all together and they’d be great to ask your favorite fic writer!

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fan-fiction?

I think I was 12. My best friend at the time and I wrote Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fanfic. We also put ourselves into the stories as OCs. I also wrote for Full Metal Alchemist, InuYasha, I also had my own HP fics, and I think I even had an Eregon oneshot at some point when I started lol. I’m confident there’s more, but it’s been such a long time.

2) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer.

I actually really enjoy both. Like, with reader inserts, I can inject a lot of my (or my friends) quirks and fears and insecurities into the reader and get messages back from readers saying that they really connected with the story or the reader. And OC’s are always fun because they have their own personality and it’s fun for me to figure out who they are.

3) What is your favorite genre to write for?

Fluffffffff. Yall know I can’t write a story without a happy ending.

4) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why?

Surprisingly, I don’t think I have one. They’re all fine. I wish I had time to go through and kind of update a few of them, but there’s not really any that I’m super embarrassed by.

5) When is your preferred time to write?

First thing in the morning. Right after I wake up. It doesn’t happen very often, but it’s easiest then. I’m not bogged down by my jobs or my brain. It’s easiest to get into a good headspace.

6) Where do you take your inspiration from?

Usually from Sarah or other friends–the stories they tell, the things I read or see.

7) What’s your favorite scene that you’ve written?

Hmm..there’s a scene in my 40’s series that I’m pretty proud of. The reader, Bucky, and Steve are all reunited at long last and it’s really sweet and I dunno I really just love it.

But, if we’re going off of fics that I’ve posted…this is probably going to sound so bad, but the Kennedy assassination in Control was interesting to write. I actually watched old news footage of it. The chaos, the panic, the craziness, and then having her reunite with the Soldier and there’s a little spark is just ugh. It’s one of my favorites.

8) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it?

Not yet. Luckily, my followers and readers have been incredibly kind. I’ve never really had any hate or criticism for my stories.

9) Who is your favorite character to write for? Why?

This should be easy to tell, but it’s Bucky. Lol He’s got such an interesting depth and so many layers and I know I always write him so soft and loving but I also love to read fics where he’s the Soldier and the ones that explore the different sides of him. Someday I want to write those different shades of Bucky.

10) Who is your least favorite character to write for? Why?

I don’t have a whole lot of experience writing a lot of the characters, so I can’t really pick one. It feels unfair. I would like to write more for other characters to be a stronger author and to have some variety.

11) How do you come up with the titles for your stories?

I’m so unoriginal when it comes to titles, tbh. Like, my most creative one was Nomonakalo and that’s literally because I was looking for “apocalypse” in Xhosa. But I didn’t like any of the translations for “apocalypse” so I looked up synonyms until I landed on “devastation,” and here we are. The others, are song titles, like Control. And some are a word or two about the story, like Midnight Snack, or Partner.

12) What do you think is the best idea you’ve had for a story so far?

Nomonakalo is the best idea I’ve ever had. I hope to continue it someday even though it didn’t get a lot of love. I also have a Princess Bride au on ice in the back of my brain that I’m pretty sure is gonna be fantastic.

13) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them?

Oh god so many. My poor babies. I’m not inspired by the request or they’ve gotten to be too big for me to handle.

14) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to?

Maybe Partner or Blind Date. Or even a sequel to Cuddle Drabbles, but the focus would be on Steve instead. I’ve been playing with the ideas of a Steve Cuddle Drabbles for a really long time.

15) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently?

Road to Schkeuditz. I hated that it ended so angsty. I wanted to do more, but I didn’t know the timeline and when Bucky would wake up. But I think I might write a little something someday about the reader visiting him in Wakanda after he’s healed.

16) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire?

I have so, so many, but I’m gonna do the first three that came to mind.

I admire @sarahwroteathing. I know she’s my best friend, but guys. G u y s. Sarah’s so talented. I admire her work ethic and how hard she works on her stories. Soundtrack has been giving her grief for over a year, and she’s still working on it. It’s still one of the best stories I’ve ever read and it amazes me how much care she puts into her writing.

@soldatbarnes is also another great friend and amazing author. I also love how she perseveres through her tough times. She amazes me. I’ll see her posts about not being inspired to write, or wishing she had more time to do so, and then she’ll come out with an amazing story that’s beautifully written. She’s incredible.

@bitsandbobsandstuff is fucking phenomenal. I love her writing. It’s so in depth and wonderfully crafted. I aspire to be as amazing as she is.

17) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it?

I’m probably gonna get hate for this, but i can’t reread the Cuddle Drabbles. It’s my first time writing and posting for the MCU and I can tell. It’s cringey to me. But I get such sweet messages about it every now and again, and I can’t bring myself to change it.

18) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence?

I do it both ways. Sometimes a focus playlist is needed and other times my brain can’t think if there’s any noise. Just depends on what it is.

19) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story?

Yep. Chin Up, Princess made me cry. It was what I needed someone to say to me, and having it come from Tony just made me more emotional than I had anticipated.

20) Which part of your fics have been the hardest to write?

I overthink action scenes. I struggle with thinking it sounds forced or unorganic, sometimes.

21) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow?

Umm both. I make an outline just to know where I’m going, but sometimes it diverges because it’ll flow a different way while I’m writing it.

22) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fan-fiction?

How addicting the praise can be, and sometimes it doesn’t seem like enough. I love getting sweet messages more than I could ever attempt to tell you.

23) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like?

Yes. Nomonakalooooooooo. My poor baby. I worked the hardest on it and it has the least amount of notes of any of my fics.

24) In contrast to 23 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at?

No, not really. Sometimes, I’ll see someone start the Cuddle Drabbles or Road to Schkeuditz and I’ll think “oh here we go, they’re gonna flood my notifications with likes” but I mean that’s the most that happens lol

25) Are any of your characters based on real people?

Um, a few. But, it’s pretty minor. The reader in A December Deception has some of Sarah’s mannerisms, and Morgan in Handsome Stranger is basically my friend Morgan. I have an OC in my 40’s series based on my friend Cassidy, and the reader’s best friend in a wedding fic is essentially Sarah. (I mean, she’s marrying Steve. How could I not make her the bride? Lol)

26) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten?

Sarah called Nomonakalo “emotionally excellent” and I still haven’t recovered from it. She sent me an email responding to everything. It was practically an essay. I still reread it when I feel like quitting.

27) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten?

“The reader says ‘dude’ too much,” and “focus more on Bucky’s feelings.” I don’t really get a whole lot of negative feedback.

28) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest?

Sarah and Cassidy are pretty much the people I’ll run to. But, I will keep them close to my chest if I’m not sure I want to proceed with the story or not.

29) Do people know you write fan-fiction?

Some do, yeah. My friend Ashlee actually found some of my writing and actually read it. I wasn’t prepared for that. It’s unclear if my family knows that I still do, but they definitely knew that I did when I was a kid.

30) What’s your favorite minor character you’ve written?

Probably Sam in Road to Schkeuditz. I had a lot of fun with him!

31) What spurs you on during the writing process?

Feedback. It really does keep me going. Seeing others enjoying what I’m writing about keeps me motivated to finish a story.

32) What’s your favorite trope to write?

So, after deliberation with Sarah, I’ve realized that I don’t have a favorite to write. I haven’t written enough to really have a favorite!

33) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about?

The first fic ever? No. God no. I can’t remember. It was probably my friend’s HP fanfic. I can remember the first fic I read for supernatural was from Mimi, and the first from the MCU was from Tesla. But I don’t remember what the stories were.

34) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why?

Fluff. Always fluff. I can’t have a story end on a sad or bad note. It always has to have a happy ending.

#milestone celebration #ask the author #aubzylynn